Recommendations for my current flooring project

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Lollyloopp

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2022
Messages
15
Location
Atl
I have posted a few questions on here but still not sure what would be best so I thought having it in one thread may be better. Would love any secrets you may have on what steps I need to take. This comes after a click lock vinyl floor I laid failed after 4 months.
Right now-I have removed the new floor which is trash now. I am in the process of removing old rubber foam backing from carpet that was previously ripped up (thank you to those who helped me figure that out). This stuff is the main reason my floor failed. Have a floor scraper that is slowly getting this stuff off.
Question - This stuff flames is a little at a time. When I get close to the adhesive there is still "black" on the floor. So I need to get this off as well and only see the concrete? The adhesive lines look white and are hard. Some of it has flaked of as well.
My next question is what floor should I put down?
The area has had minor flooding 5 times in my 20 years for various reasons. 2 bad water heaters, overflowed toilet, busted washing machine line, and floor drain back up.
I take care of the water issues when they arise, but all of these were sudden with no warning. I should have replaced the carpet many times ago but didn't have the resources. I need something that would survive these situations. Can't imagine replacing a floor every time. It goes into the hallway and bedroom next to the laundry room.
The linoleum or vinyl in the laundry room (not sure which) Seems to handle it fine. Even the vinyl stick tiles on top of it seem to handle the last issue.
What flooring would you recommend for such an area?

That's all for now!
 
I would recommend another click together lvp. Lol

When the prep is done properly and there's nothing under it to cause deflection, it's a great product!

As I'm sure you've already realized, prep is key for that to work. The way they market it is if even a monkey can install it. While that's true, the real skill comes with the prep work.

Flat with no deflection is the ticket.


Or how about some porcelain tile? That holds up good for wet areas on concrete.
 
I would recommend another click together lvp. Lol

When the prep is done properly and there's nothing under it to cause deflection, it's a great product!

As I'm sure you've already realized, prep is key for that to work. The way they market it is if even a monkey can install it. While that's true, the real skill comes with the prep work.

Flat with no deflection is the ticket.


Or how about some porcelain tile? That holds up good for wet areas on concrete.
I have thought about tile as being the best option to hold up to the unexpected. My concerns include, could I even do it, the time it takes, how much floor prep for a 50 year old concrete sub floor? Honestly, it intimidates me, but that's not stopped me before. I've learned a good bit over the last several years updating my house!
It's a very busy hallway with multiple people going in and out all day. It took a few weekends and weeknights to get the clock lock in and not using the hallway isn't an option. Professional install would be in the thousands for the hallway I'm sure. It's about 80 to 90 sqft. Now looking at septic issues so no way that's in the budget.
I've even considered just sticking with the concert itself, finishing it out similar to make it look nicer! I thought about vinyl sheet or linoleum because the laundry room handles the water so well (as far as I can tell)!
I'm good with doing LVP again. There was a small flood in my kitchen over a year ago that has LVP, higher quality. There is a preattached underlayment and it's on top of linoleum. It seem to handle the water just fine, though I didn't pull any of it up.
I just want to make sure I put down something that will handle the water, isn't too labor intensive (due to the busy hallway), and won't break the bank. If a higher quality LVP is the best way to go then I'm happy to do it!
 
So, I feel I will be scraping black rubber for the foreseeable future at the rate I'm going. Neck and back issues limit how much I can do at one time. Took a total of about 45 minutes to clear maybe 1 to 2 Sq ft, and that still leaves the concrete with a black haze of sorts on it. This only seems to come off of I can get the adhesive chipped off.
Any suggestions? Using a floor scraper, but not with a razor blade. You can sharpen the one I bought same as a knife. I didn't want to have to but a bunch of blades but maybe thats the best option? I've seen mention of baby powder and boiling water helping?
If it takes the next year I will work on my patience and keep chipping away at it. Thank you for any advice.
 
Share a pic of your scraper if you could.

I feel like it's one of the scrapers with the big square blade. If it is then ditch it and get one you can replace the blades every few feet.

I use my Crain 5" inertial scraper most of the time for scraping up pad. Works great unless the concrete is crappy ( pebbles and rough).
 
Share a pic of your scraper if you could.

I feel like it's one of the scrapers with the big square blade. If it is then ditch it and get one you can replace the blades every few feet.

I use my Crain 5" inertial scraper most of the time for scraping up pad. Works great unless the concrete is crappy ( pebbles and rough).
It is I think. Can post picture later. Guess I'll be going through a ton of blades 🤣
 
Share a pic of your scraper if you could.

I feel like it's one of the scrapers with the big square blade. If it is then ditch it and get one you can replace the blades every few feet.

I use my Crain 5" inertial scraper most of the time for scraping up pad. Works great unless the concrete is crappy ( pebbles and rough).
Also, should I get up ALL the black? I think I'll need to get the adhesive of to do it.
 
The $20 in blades will be well worth the investment when you see how much faster it will go.

Depends on what you are installing. If another click together lvp then I would say get off all the foam. Clean it up and give it a good skim coat. Then check for flatness and spot patch where necessary.
 

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