Replies

1. 
   mcf | Feb 08, 2006 07:35pm | #1

   ask on the forums at http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com

2. 
   FastEddie | Feb 08, 2006 11:59pm | #2

   A cementitious floor leveller will be a problem, because it will shatter when nailed.  It could be used for a floating or glue-down floor.  Can you sand down the ridges?  Using layers of felt paper of varying widths works well.

    

    

   "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

1. 
   user-105580 | Feb 09, 2006 12:30am | #3

   I would have to sand down about 1/2" in a lot of places.  That would only leave 1/8" of the existing 5/8" plywood.

   I guess I could put an entire new layer of 1/2" down with glue, then sand the ridges down, leaving about 1/8" of the new plywood on top of the existing.

   I gues that a carpenter's glue like Elmers or Titebond would work best in the areas to be sanded.  Glue it; screw it; remove screws; sand it down

   Any other ideas?

   Thanks for your feedback!

   Bill

    

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1. 
   mbdyer | Feb 09, 2006 02:27am | #4

   Check out Ardex. I think you can trowel it out up to 3/4" thick. The carpet installers I've worked beside use it all the time and they whack in their tack strips with a rock tied to a stick the next day. It has some give and doesn't "shatter".

3. 
   philarenewal | Feb 10, 2006 07:10am | #5

   Bill:

   If you are talking about an 8" area needing fill, you can keep that area "between" the face nails (assuming the flooring is laid perpendicular to the fill).  Mark it well though so you can't forget exactly where the fill is.  If you end up hitting thick fill with a face nail, 9 times out of 10 the gun will drive the nail into the surface of the wood accordian style, creating a large, deep gouge, ruining the board (always the last nail on one of the best long boards in the rack, in a place where removing it requires great pains to avoid ruining several other boards already nailed tight, and where filling the gouge instead of replacing the damaged board would stick out like a sore thumb).  Don't ask me how I know that.

   Be interested to know what else you discover -- have run into similar problem more than once.  For small dips, I just use an extra layer of paper or two, cut to the shape of the dip.

1. 
   user-105580 | Feb 11, 2006 05:12pm | #6

   I looked into Ardex and called their support line.  The manufacturer didn't recommend it for nailing through (said that it would likely spall).

   What I started to do (yesterday) was to fill in with varying widths of 1/4" luan underlayment.  Up against walls, I used a belt sander to feather this down to under an 1/8" thick where needed.  I installed this with Titebond carpenters' glue and screws.  The plywood terminates at the high point of the ridge.  I will remove the screws, then sand this down.  At the high point of the ridge I will sand all the way through the new layer of 1/4" plywood.  One foot away, I may only sand it down 1/16" or so.  Ending up with the low spots filled in with solid plywood glued to the existing plywood floor that starts out at the edges at a feather edge and that may be 1/2" or so further from the edge.

   Yes, this is a lot of work, but I think that it will result in a top knotch job.

   I did think about taking all the floor up (5/8" plywood and the diagonal 5/4 boards under it, but this would involve a tremendous amount of work especially adjacent to walls and the existing kitchen base cabinets (which would have to be removed and then re-installed.

   Thanks for all the feedback!

   Bill

1. 
   HARDWOODGUY | Feb 11, 2006 09:22pm | #7

   #90 roofing felt works too