My sister in-law is looking to lay hardwoods in her kitchen. Contractor said he would remove 1 layer of sub floor so the cabinet heights would remain the same & floor heights would match. Claims he will do this without removing the cabinets, how can you cut through the subfloor next to the cabinets & under the toe kicks? If the sheets are glued down then what? Trying to keep her from getting taken.
Thanks for the help
Bob
Replies
Hi,
I believe this is possible since I did it myself. I installed hardwood in my kitchen, so I removed one layer of subfloor (older homes have two layers, perpendicular to each other. I removed most of the glue. It was very labor intensive but very do-able. We also cut around the cabinets.
The floor turned out great....it was just hard work....we could not get a contractor to do it for us and it turned out we didn't need one...
Crain makes a toe kick saw for the flooring industry works real good, some flooring supply places will even rent them out, it's a 2" or 2 1/2" circular saw blade on a shaft that will fit under the toe kick and cut flush to the base. A roofing/shingle ripper works real good for lifting and removing subfloor,if you are removing plywood cut the sheets into manageable sizes first .
Gunn,
Got a website for Crain? We want to do this ourselves but need to find a dealer that will rent the saw.
Thanks
Bob
http://www.craintools.com/pages/more_pages/795_more.html
Call any rental store, they probably have it, if not our carpet store has them for rent, but thats unusual.View ImageGo Jayhawks..............Next Year and daaa. Blues View Image
May not even need a floor specific place. If you check rentals in the yellow pages, a tool rental yard ought to carry that kind of thing. "The child is grown / The dream is gone / And I have become / Comfortably numb " lyrics by Roger Waters
Have you ever use this saw yourself? I am just wondering if you cut flush to the toe kick, how do you hide the joint between the hardwood flooring and the toe kick? Quarter round?
Tom
I have used the saw but not for hardwood install, seems as though you will have to leave room for expansion just like around the walls and use shoe mould nailed to base not the floor.
Would the Fein multitool's flush cut blade do the job for cutting under the cabinets ?
I have one (Fein Multimaster) and I think it can do a lot, but asking it to cut a lotta feet of 3/4" hardwood flooring is probably asking more than it can deliver.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
Thanks guys, I was in the equipment rental business for close to 10 yrs & have never heard of a toe kick saw. Got requests for all sorts of odd stuff, but never that.
Bob
You are talking about a situation where the contractor has offered his bid to do the job right. I've had many customers who wish to avoid the cost of removal and go with a lower bid. One customer was a friend of a friend and I have been told that every day the customer trips on the height difference at the doorway. They swear they're going to call me to have me redo the job for them so it's right. By the way, I didnt do the job. If you use a toe kick saw, protect your toe kick face with Luan held in place with duct tape. The old drill type saw has a tendency to kick back. The newer type (shaped like a circular saw) runs easier, but make sure you have a new sharp blade. You can also use a Sawzall with a real long blade that will bend into shape against the protected toe kick. You could also consider calling around to local contractors that might rent out the saw if you can't find one.