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Considering putting VCT’s in a small house. New construction, osb 3/4 t&g subfloor glued and screwed in good shape. Wondering if we would really need underlayment. Thinking if we fill the screw holes and joints, maybe take a belt sander to the few rough spots we’d be OK. The only time I’ve used them before was a hurry up job on a small bathroom with 1/2″ ply underlayment with no prep. Still looks good. They’re pretty thick and I just dont see stuff telegraphing though them like cheap sheet vinyl. What do you think?
JonC
Replies
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b WBA At Your Service
I spend the majority of my time doing repair/remodeling work which always has me thinking what I'm going to leave for the next guy who comes in 10 or 20 years from now. Putting VCT directly on your subfloor from this standpoint is a bad idea because it can be a real bitch to remove, worst case damaging your OSB. If you put the VCT on underlay, the underlay comes out with the VCT at remodel time. Piece of cake. New underlayment goes down again for next finished floor.
I would say you stand less of a chance having imperfections telegraph through than you do from having uneven seams in the VCT.
Do us all a favor and use the underlay. It's only a small house, right ?
*Use the underlayment. I re-used some 3/8" CDX ply filled with Fixall and sanded smooth, but now wish i hadn't had an attack of thriftiness that particular time. The VCT's will telegraph imperfections more that the thickness of them would indicate, especially since the surface isn't embossed like most sheet goods. Waxed, it's even more obvious. Still love the stuff, but will be more respectful the next time i install it.
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Considering putting VCT's in a small house. New construction, osb 3/4 t&g subfloor glued and screwed in good shape. Wondering if we would really need underlayment. Thinking if we fill the screw holes and joints, maybe take a belt sander to the few rough spots we'd be OK. The only time I've used them before was a hurry up job on a small bathroom with 1/2" ply underlayment with no prep. Still looks good. They're pretty thick and I just dont see stuff telegraphing though them like cheap sheet vinyl. What do you think?
JonC