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Posted by EXT on January 2, 2007, 3:54 pm
I am in the middle of levelling a floor for hardwood. My problem is a
combination of a room that spans an addition built 20 years ago. The old
foundation wall runs in an "L" shape through the room causing a high ridge
along the "L", combined with some settling in the older portion. I have been
belt sanding the ridge down about 1/8" to lower it, plus I will have to use
some floor levelling compound about 9/16" deep in the worst area to bring it
up to reasonably level.
I am using engineered flooring, which has a plywood base that has saw cuts
across it, so it can bend to follow gentle curves. My problem was the ridge
was too abrupt for it to follow without risking the staples pulling out or
the curve being visible in daylight. I am covering my subfloor and levelling
compound with 1/4" firply glued down to give a good base for the hardwood.
You are using solid wood, that stuff won't bend at all. But if the longest
length is not excessive, the shorter lengths will probably follow your
curve. Get your wood and do a dry installation in the middle and see how it
lays down without fasteners. You may have to do a little "adjusting" only,
if you find any dips within your curve. I would not use anything with tar
inside the house, nor use any paper products as they will eventually
compress and cause squeaks.
> Hello everyone.
>
> I feel like I have read every single post on the internet / new groups
> about leveling subfloors for hardwood floor installation. I feel like
> I've heard it all. . .from leveling compound, to asphalt shingle shims,
> to felt paper shims, to ripping up the floor and adjusting the joists.
> Trouble is, I don't know if I need to "flatten" my subfloor. I keep
> seeing posta about certain spacing over 4, 6, and 8 foot spans. . .to
> determine whether it's in fact needed. I have no clue on what to do if
> the dip is 15 feet accross. I will attempt to describe my situation.
>
> The room in question is a second story bedroom, in a 15 year old house,
> over a finished garage with 2X10 douglas fir on 12inch spacing. The
> overall space is ~16' X 16'. Now imagind that in the center of this
> room ther is appoximatly a 1/2" gradual dip (w/ a radius of
> approximatly 15 feet). This dip is NOT noticable when using a 4 foot
> level/straight edge, in that when you run the 4 foot level accross the
> area with the dip, I never see more than a couple milimeters or so of
> space under the straight edge. However, if I use the string method (a
> peice of string at the far ends of the room accross the dip and make it
> taught) there is ~1/2 inch dip at it's max. Now to make things more
> interesting, imagine that there is a interior wall that bifercates the
> romm into two sections (think of the floor plan as a "C" shape), and
> the interior wall extends right into the center of the dip!!!! What
> horried me, as that this dip appears to be a result of the origional
> construction, because the builder clearly "shimed" up the interior wall
> to compensate for the dip!!! Having the house inspected appears to
> show that this is not the result of setteling or defective joists, but
> simple poor workmanship. . . <tear>. . . .
>
> I plan on installing 3/4" thick Plank (3.5" wide) Kempas Hardwood,
> using nail down method.
>
> Hopefully, if what I wrote makes sense, you can understand why I am
> unwilling to rip up the floor (would require removal of a wall), and
> can't get it from below as I would have to rip out a celing below.
>
> So getting back to it. What I have is a very gradual dip in a floor
> that is NOT perceptable when using a 4 foot straight edge. Do I need
> to flatten the floor? If so, what does the collective wisdom of the
> group recomend? 30lb felt to shim up a bit? If so, how many layers
> can I build up, before I risk the nails not having enough bite.
>
> Best regards,
> Jon
>
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