I know a flat floor is important for LVP but in a 15'x18' room how much slope is acceptable as long as its flat?
How level should the floor be?
- Thread starter TNGuy
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Glue down or floating?
Floating.
Slope is different from flat. I don’t think a lot of manufacturers put a slope spec in their instructions but the ones that I have seen are something along the lines of 1” over 10’. I suppose you could have more but what will happen is your floor will walk its way down the slope until it comes to an obstruction. Could be a wall, could be a door jamb, something. If you’re only doing a single room and the slope isn’t too crazy, you’ll be alright.
Just checked the specs for Pergo Outlast. No more than 1” in 6’ slope.
Thanks!
That's good to know. This room is a bedroom so it will have furniture holding the floor in place.
My worse case hump to dip is 2.6" but filling and grinding will improve that.
I do need to add some overall height so I will add some underlayment, plywood or osb.
That's good to know. This room is a bedroom so it will have furniture holding the floor in place.
My worse case hump to dip is 2.6" but filling and grinding will improve that.
I do need to add some overall height so I will add some underlayment, plywood or osb.
Thanks C.J.!
Believe you me, if that floor wants to move, it will. Single room is prolly no biggie but imagine if you were doing multiple rooms or an entire house. Let’s say one of the rooms used to be the front porch years ago. It’s been enclosed but never got leveled. Along comes Joe Blow and he does a continuous install throughout the entire house, including the room with a slope. No transitions, no nothing. That room with the slope, if it’s excessive enough, will want to walk its way down to the lowest point until it hits an obstruction. If that room is connected to other rooms throughout the house, you’re going to have problems because the rest of the house won’t be moving in harmony with the sloped room. The sloped room in its attempt to walk down will want to twist because it’s connected at a doorway(s). The floor will eventually buckle once enough tension has built up.
Now you can glue down some floating floors in situations like this but doesn’t that defeat the entire purpose of a floating floor. If you’re going to glue it down, just get an appropriate product that was designed to be glued down in the first place.
Furniture will NOT hold the floor in place on a floating floor. In fact, it will mostly likely cause the issue to appear quicker because it's on the same slope as the floor. Weight is going to go down slope. Movement in the room, seasonal changes in the structure itself. It's going to move.
That's a pretty good slope. I'd say you're right at the point where it's going to be iffy. There is a tipping point for loads on a floating floor where it will pin the floor and not allow it to move, but bedroom furniture is not going to do that. A grand piano without proper furniture protectors or a massive sub-zero commercial refrigerator is pushing that tipping point, but not bedroom furniture.
That's a pretty good slope. I'd say you're right at the point where it's going to be iffy. There is a tipping point for loads on a floating floor where it will pin the floor and not allow it to move, but bedroom furniture is not going to do that. A grand piano without proper furniture protectors or a massive sub-zero commercial refrigerator is pushing that tipping point, but not bedroom furniture.
I have all three connecting rooms (Master bedroom, bath and walk-in closet) down to the subfloor now (removing ceramic tile was a pain) and measured the slope using the laser. My slope is ~2" with the lowest end where the entry door to the hallway is. If I used a floor leveling product I would have a 2" step at the entry door. Look's like I'm screwed.
It's not the best solution, but would it be possible to switch to a glue down product? That would prevent the issue and it's going to be a whole lot cheaper than fixing the structural issues.
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I already have the LVP delivered. Currently we have carpet in all bedrooms except the master bedroom now. I probably can still level all the bathrooms and I'm thinking about using the LVP stash in all bathrooms now and then installing carpet back in the master bedroom.
