Hi all every rental place I have lived in the last 5 years has had it and they all have separated. I am afraid to install it into a house that I am remodeling now. I have a couple boxes of glue down mannington Adura flex on the way for a small bathroom And plan to use that for the entire house if things go well. It is a wooden subfloor underneath and the house currently has laminate planks throughout that are a separating mess and vinyl in the kitchen. I would like to ask what glue you guys like. I was thinking of using feather finish to use on the plywood joints and the like. Is cracking of this a concern on plywood. Do I need to use wire mesh if leveling a larger area. Any words of advice from the group is appreciativ. If I had never seen so many issues I would have gone for the click as it seems easier but I don’t want any issues down the road. Thanks for any suggestions or advice.
Dead set against click lock and some questions
- Thread starter Brianj
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If you dont want any issues use the MANUFACTURER's adhesive and do the floor prep 100%.
100% will vary depending on the exact substrate conditions-----typically we use Feather Finish and/or K15 self leveling. When that's infeasible plywood underlayment may need to be replaced/reinforced/added.
One size does not fit all------but you ALWAYS want that 100%
Rental owners are usually tightwads and buy the cheapest of everything because renters tend to destroy things.
Cheap material = early failure.
Cheap labor means they will cut corners and not do prep work, meaning they will not spend time to make the floor flat. This too = failure.
Combine cheap floor and cheap labor and you are guaranteed a failure.
High end products and high end installers = ......let's just say failures are rare.
Have the job done by a Carpet One store and they guarantee the product and installation for life. If you picked out the wrong color and can't stand your own mistake........
.......yup, they'll replace it for free.
.....it's rare that someone takes them up on that issue, but it's a pretty neat guarantee.
Cheap material = early failure.
Cheap labor means they will cut corners and not do prep work, meaning they will not spend time to make the floor flat. This too = failure.
Combine cheap floor and cheap labor and you are guaranteed a failure.
High end products and high end installers = ......let's just say failures are rare.
Have the job done by a Carpet One store and they guarantee the product and installation for life. If you picked out the wrong color and can't stand your own mistake........
.......yup, they'll replace it for free.
.....it's rare that someone takes them up on that issue, but it's a pretty neat guarantee.
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Lord I hope not! How bad a shape is the existing plywood In? I’ve never used self leveling compound over a plywood subfloor. I’ve only used it over concrete substrates and no mesh is needed. If plywood is in that bad a shape it may have to be replaced.
When gluing down vinyl tile prep is everything. If the existing plywood is in decent shape you may get away with patching the joints and imperfections, skim coating and sanding. It’s always better to put down a second layer of 1/4” underlayment quality plywood for a nice smooth surface. Then patch and/or sand the joints.
As mentioned stick with like brands. If gluing down Mannington vinyl tiles or planks Mannington V-82 is a good adhesive.
Click floors are one thing, they’re made for do it yourselfers but if you’ve never glued down a floor before you might wanna consider hiring a professional.
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They would not like to meet my wife…
If paint stores made her that offer she’d have put them all out of business by herself!
It's a rarity around here that DIYers install click lock.
The prep is everything. This is where the DIY group is misled and why click lvp seems to have a high failure rate. Several years ago we put some $1/sf click in a store in the mall. It still looks great. The same product is buckling like hell in front of the sliding glass doors of a 6 plex we did. The owners never dealt with the direct sunlight at the doors. These flooring projects aren't cheap but you will get more service life out of a cheap floor with good prep rather than an expensive floor with bad prep. Many people don't like to splurge on the part of the job they can't see but that is where the value is built.
william dodich
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- Jan 29, 2024
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Brian was it Lifeproof brand?
kwfloors
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