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Gearhead001

876-5-309
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
541
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20
Loc
Mount Venon, WA
  • Going from laminate and carpet upstairs to Waterproof laminate throughout all the same.
  • There is small rise between the dining room/kitchen vs the rest of the house. About the thickness of a carpet tack strip.
I see they make subfloor levelers to transition this, so that I can make it all the same flooring.
- Anyone done this before, advice or best brands on levelers to use.?
 
Gearhead001 said:
  • Going from laminate and carpet upstairs to Waterproof laminate throughout all the same.
  • There is small rise between the dining room/kitchen vs the rest of the house. About the thickness of a carpet tack strip.
I see they make subfloor levelers to transition this, so that I can make it all the same flooring.
- Anyone done this before, advice or best brands on levelers to use.?
Click to expand...
Years ago, I used 1/8" luan plywood to bring a dining room up to the level of the lino. in the kitchen - cut w/ sharp utility knife against steel straight edges, it fit like a glove at the edges & seams. Then the plywood looked so good, I gave it 3 coats of gym floor varnish, called that good, & only did new sheet vinyl in the kitchen. I had well under $100 (early 1990s) into my "fake hardwood floor" and always got compliments on how good it looked :laughing:
 
I've done LevelQuik RS in my basement....shit is not for the faint of heart or frankly most DIY peeps will screw it up.

I'd just be glue/screwing down 1/4" plywood to make up the difference or just putting in a transition strip.
 
I assume since you said it's upstairs it's not concrete subfloor.

Just getchu a pneumatic stapler and whatever thickness ply you need and go to town (stagger seams)

Or am I misreading this and you just want a transition between the levels? All the flooring manufacturers make various strips and transitions that match the flooring you buy.. a lot of them end up being special order
 
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Plywood to bring lower up to hight and belt sander to feather out high spots in subfloor.

You could lap go with 3/4 nail or staple down hardwood. That will take up a lot more inconsistencies in the floor than luxury vinyl.
 
Trying to make it have no seams or transition strip visible. I can do the thin plywoood route but will have to do about 1000 SQ of plywood through the entire upstairs. A buddy is who told me they make long thin transition that butt against the edge of the higher deal and taper it down. He said once you put the floor in you an barely notice the tapered rise.
 
Gearhead001 said:
Trying to make it have no seams or transition strip visible. I can do the thin plywoood route but will have to do about 1000 SQ of plywood through the entire upstairs. A buddy is who told me they make long thin transition that butt against the edge of the higher deal and taper it down. He said once you put the floor in you an barely notice the tapered rise.
Click to expand...

Never used those because i never needed them but yes, those tapered strips can be used (even in sections butted to one another i believe) and they can be found in minimal thicknesses.
 
For that thin of an edge I would just leave it, or try to miter an edge.

I could not live with it so just manually removed 2800 sq ft of 40 year old 1/2" thick cat piss soaked HDF fiber board sub floor board in the remodel I am doing. 3ish tons of it are in my dump truck this second while I sit here and wait for my clothes to dry, I can barely move (muh back from hunching over) and need to go pack the second floor out. :homer:

Each 4x8 sheet has exactly 56 nails in it, installers were very consistent.

Sometimes my retired white collar life looks pretty good, I could be in San Diego eating a nice bfast on the company right now...
 
What are the dimensions of the room and the area you need to raise?

My personal choice is 1/4" boards (or whatever you need to bring it up). Underlayment or plywood would get pricey for large areas. But it will look better. OSB would be half the cost.
I would never use the reducers in my own home because of personal choice. 1. I would know they are there. 2. The trim would have a gap. Carpet could hide it better, flooring wont.
Mix lever isn't made for that big of an area. Could it be done? Sure. If 486 comes back, it sounds like something he would tackle if he had a couple pallets of mostly ripped open bags sitting somewhere.
 
Gearhead001 said:
Trying to make it have no seams or transition strip. A buddy is who told me they make long thin transition that butt against the edge of the higher deal and taper it down. He said once you put the floor in you an barely notice the tapered rise.
Click to expand...
Bull-shit! You'll notice that rise every time you walk across it. Unlevel floors bug the shit out of me. Much better to have a threshold between grades so there's a visual reminder and justification for the transition.
 
Ranch, this is why Im discussing with the masses. Here is a basic lay out. the red area is the raised portion. most of the other rooms have carpet. where the island is in the kitchen use to be a wall. Now its open concept and want the floors to match the flow. It seems the thin plywood might be the only best option.. just means I have to do it in the entire rest of the floor plan. trying to have no transition strips. just on seamless floor.
 

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You'll 100% notice that transition every single time you walk over it and mumble curse words at yourself for not doing it right the first time. Promise.

Just throw down the plywood and be done with it. Thin ply isn't hideously expensive compared to walking over that transition and hating yourself every day.

That said, we've feathered things like that out over a much longer span using felt paper in layers, but you still notice it's there

Edit: or like said lower the kitchen. I've done that too, even with cabinets present it's not usually a big deal. A few hours with a multi tool. And a hundred bucks in blades.
 
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I will look into the kitchen floor level change first I guess. I was concerned with cabinets but anything is possible with enough triangulation.
I will likely sell the house in 10-15 years, so best to get it right now I suppose at 44 years old and in shape doing the work isn't a big deal at 55 pushing 60 might be different.
 
You can pull the toekicks off and get the subfloor cut back behind them, which is usually a bit suckier to do, or cut the subfloor flush to the toekicks and use shoe molding or quarter round. You'll likely need some kind of trim on the end cabinets though.
 
Gearhead001 said:
I will look into the kitchen floor level change first I guess. I was concerned with cabinets but anything is possible with enough triangulation.
I will likely sell the house in 10-15 years, so best to get it right now I suppose at 44 years old and in shape doing the work isn't a big deal at 55 pushing 60 might be different.
Click to expand...

explain yourself on the cabinets
 
The cabinets are built ins from likely when the house was built in 1967. they have updated doors and slides and all that. I havent pulled any
trim or removed the old flooring yet but I suspect the cabinets are sitting on the subfloor.
 
Gearhead001 said:
The cabinets are built ins from likely when the house was built in 1967. they have updated doors and slides and all that. I havent pulled any
trim or removed the old flooring yet but I suspect the cabinets are sitting on the subfloor.
Click to expand...

just pull the exposed subfloor up and leave everything in tact under the cabinets. add some qtr round to the bottom when the flooring is in
 
I had a transition between my wife's Art Studio (LVP flooring) and my Shop (concreted slab). I just used a threshold transition strip from Home Depot and called it a day. Hardly notice it....

20241113_131756.jpg
 
ExWrench said:
Years ago, I used 1/8" luan plywood to bring a dining room up to the level of the lino. in the kitchen - cut w/ sharp utility knife against steel straight edges, it fit like a glove at the edges & seams. Then the plywood looked so good, I gave it 3 coats of gym floor varnish, called that good, & only did new sheet vinyl in the kitchen. I had well under $100 (early 1990s) into my "fake hardwood floor" and always got compliments on how good it looked :laughing:
Click to expand...
Polyurethane finishes are fuckin magic.

I've got three floors I did shitty jobs sanding and three coats of that shit later they look amazing.

When I do wood shelves I use floor poly. When I sand the counters it's getting floor poly. :laughing:
 
GonPostal said:
I had a transition between my wife's Art Studio (LVP flooring) and my Shop (concreted slab). I just used a threshold transition strip from Home Depot and called it a day. Hardly notice it....

20241113_131756.jpg
Click to expand...

I've been assuming he isn't changing flooring material between the two
 
Im going to one flooring material throughout and wanting no transition. Was trying to see if there was a easier way but It seems nope. Just have to pull up both the vinyl and carpet and see which one is easier or cheaper to deal with changing the level on Whether its replace the kitchen dining floor or add to other floors. I was a carpenter by trade 25 years age, appears somethings are still the same.
 
Self leveler will only work if you plan on having a ~1/4” deep lakes worth in your kitchen/dining room. You’re basically pouring water that sets up hard. You need to run around with a level and/or laser to make sure it’ll do what you’re hoping it will do or you’ve got a giant mess coming. I just put down 8 bags of of it a month ago in my kitchen remodel.

If you want to feather out the transition Henry’s 547 will do that but you have to be on your game for it not to go south real quick.

Adding ply as mentioned is a good move, make sure you glue and screw to mitigate squeaks. 1/4 is thin enough to be risky to work well
 
FlatLander said:
Sure. If 486 comes back, it sounds like something he would tackle if he had a couple pallets of mostly ripped open bags sitting somewhere.
Click to expand...
that son of a bitch. Now he’s holding up our projects too?
 
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