A customer has installed "underlayment" two times so that I could install vinyl in two bedrooms. She used 1/4" plywood from a lumber yard.. the sales guy told her "a lot of guys use this" .....meaning a birch faced plywood designed for cabinet backings. The surface is so-so. She screwed down the first bedroom with 1" drywall screws. 
I had a few hours of prep and repairs from mis cuts, re screwing high screws and adding a lot of 1/4" staples, plus a skim coat with Ardex.
I told her by using an underlayment grade plywood, the quality would be much higher. I emphasized that structurally, the plywood she used was not up to par for flooring. The edges chip badly if you saw the wood because the glue that holds the paper thin birch layer, doesn't hold well. I find that cutting the plywood with a utility knife gives a much nicer cut.
Well, she bough the same plywood for the second bedroom. I told her to cut and fit the pieces, but only tack them in place, and that I would use my stapler to fasten the sheets. I'm glad she listened........ I had to re-cut the ends of every board so they would fit together. I just pulled out the 2 or 3 screws so could re fit each piece. I could have installed the underlayment for the 3 hours spent fixing it.
OK, she want's to put some kind of hard surface in the rest of the ranch style home......... living room, kitchen, hallway and laundry. No way do I plan to put sheet vinyl over their underlayment of choice, so I am looking at options, in the way of a laminate floor of some type.... something easy to install and on the cheaper end of the scale......... She doesn't have a ton of money and if she can do some of the installation herself, she'd be better off.
I looked at some Corlock laminate/LVT. The cheapest version of that is $3 sq ft. It has no sound deadening backing adhered to it.
The rest of this home is a lot of sq feet, so $3 it probably the high end of what she is willing to spend.
What types of lock together laminates or lock together LVT type materials would you guys recommend? I know I would have to do a fair amount of floor prep because I know how well the home's partille board looks in those bedrooms. I just want her to end up with a decent material when all is said and done.
I had a few hours of prep and repairs from mis cuts, re screwing high screws and adding a lot of 1/4" staples, plus a skim coat with Ardex.I told her by using an underlayment grade plywood, the quality would be much higher. I emphasized that structurally, the plywood she used was not up to par for flooring. The edges chip badly if you saw the wood because the glue that holds the paper thin birch layer, doesn't hold well. I find that cutting the plywood with a utility knife gives a much nicer cut.
Well, she bough the same plywood for the second bedroom. I told her to cut and fit the pieces, but only tack them in place, and that I would use my stapler to fasten the sheets. I'm glad she listened........ I had to re-cut the ends of every board so they would fit together. I just pulled out the 2 or 3 screws so could re fit each piece. I could have installed the underlayment for the 3 hours spent fixing it.
OK, she want's to put some kind of hard surface in the rest of the ranch style home......... living room, kitchen, hallway and laundry. No way do I plan to put sheet vinyl over their underlayment of choice, so I am looking at options, in the way of a laminate floor of some type.... something easy to install and on the cheaper end of the scale......... She doesn't have a ton of money and if she can do some of the installation herself, she'd be better off.
I looked at some Corlock laminate/LVT. The cheapest version of that is $3 sq ft. It has no sound deadening backing adhered to it.
The rest of this home is a lot of sq feet, so $3 it probably the high end of what she is willing to spend.
What types of lock together laminates or lock together LVT type materials would you guys recommend? I know I would have to do a fair amount of floor prep because I know how well the home's partille board looks in those bedrooms. I just want her to end up with a decent material when all is said and done.
