LVP on stairs - what to do about attached underpad

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billmccollam

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Joined
Oct 22, 2022
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9
Just finished a small basement room with AquaPlus 7mm including a 1mm attached underpad.
I'll likely have enough left over to do the basement stairs (at least the treads). I understand these will be glued vs floating. But what do I do with the attached underpad. It's a quite dense material (almost seems like hard rubber). Do I have to figure out out to remove it from the LVP before glueing - or can the glue be applied right on the underpad to the wooden existing treads? If it has to be removed - any suggestions on process for that?
Cheers and TIA
Bill (DIYr)
 
You would not believe how many scraping implements I own and used regularly. It's hard to say what works AFTER the 4" razor fails but the 4" razor is the first out of the box.

I'd certainly want the TECHNICAL rep from the manufacturer to guarantee any installation methods for stairs. Otherwise as a pro I'd not offer solutions. Too much risk there. I only worked in commercial flooring so we're talking hospitals, schools, military bases, government offices and such. So maybe a residential installer might want to "just do it"to get paid that day and feed his family and my boss and even customer's often wanted that as well. There was no incentive for me to take that risk with other people's safety.
 
I use my Crain 5" scraper with a new blade to strip the pad/cork backing off. Most manufacturers offer a glue for doing stairs.

I did a job a couple years ago in a yacht. Lvp was made for wet areas/ boats. I called their tech line to see what to do about the attached pad. Young girl said to leave it on. So I did what their own people recommended. Yeah, it came up. Couldn't stick to the pad.

So I got paid again to do it the way I always do it..... Taking the pad off!

Sometimes the people making the material don't have a clue about what their making..... Facts
 
Well shoot. The times Ive done this on steps, I cut it in as if it was hardwood, that is, nice and tight. So I don't worry about that 1 to 1.5 mm of closed cell foam. Where is it going to go/
 
Well shoot. The times Ive done this on steps, I cut it in as if it was hardwood, that is, nice and tight. So I don't worry about that 1 to 1.5 mm of closed cell foam. Where is it going to go/
I agree it's easier to leave it... My thought was not that it would go anywhere - it was the risk that it wouldn't adhere properly and the plank would eventually slide. The other two responders recommended removing it, so i tried on a test offcut... it peels off easy peasy. So now I'm leaning that way.
thnks for the response.
 
I would not put lvp on stairs—- slippery as shit and how do you finish it?—-a metal nose?—- that ain’t gonna look fancy
 
I do them all the time. Not any more slippery than hardwood. Actually it's less slippery than hardwood. Most lvp has some texture. And almost all lvp have a stair nose. If they don't then it's slim trim for the win!
 

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