That moment you realize the subfloor is moving under the vinyl plank

I was finishing a glue-down LVT job in a 1950s bungalow when a whole section started making a soft crunching sound underfoot. Turns out, a previous owner had patched a soft spot with 1/4 inch ply over the original plank, and it wasn't fastened down. I had to pull up about 80 square feet, screw it all down every 6 inches, and start over. Anyone ever had a hidden subfloor patch come back to bite them?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_rowan1mo agoMost Upvoted

My uncle's house had a patch like that for twenty years with no problems. I get what elliotm57 is saying about the manual, but honestly, if you just screw it down solid with enough screws, it's not going anywhere. The real issue is finding the problem before you lay the floor, not the fix itself. Pulling up 80 square feet is a pain, but it's a one afternoon job, not a disaster. Sometimes these old house fixes are simpler than the instructions make them seem.

the_tessa1mo ago

Is it really that big a deal? Sounds like you just had to screw it down.

elliotm571mo ago

Yeah, saw a whole thread about this. Apparently it's a common fail point, @the_tessa. The manual says to torque it to a specific spec, not just screw it down tight.

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