I had a customer call me out to address flexing in their oak floor. This is a floating floor(glued joints, maybe 3/8" thick) that was installed by the previous owner. There are several spongy spots in the floor and you can see the joints slightly flex almost any place you walk. The area in question is about 40 sq ft from the fridge to the island in front of it. The owner stated that there was a small amount of flex in the floor when they moved in 7 years ago. Over time it has spread outward and increased in severity. It now flexes almost 1/2" when you step on it. My thinking is that this floating floor was installed over an unlevel subfloor and this has allowed the glue in the joints to break loose over time causing the flex to spread and worsen. This morning i pulled the fridge and was able to work several boards out to inspect. Under the wood i found 18" travertine (i think it is actually porcelain-some type of glaze on it). In the small area i removed i can see one intersection and all four corners of tile are at different heights-at least 1/8" difference. So, here is my questions,
1. Is there any other situations that could cause this that i am not thinking of?
2. If i am able remove the floor in this area without damaging it(i have no spare pieces at all) can i pour a small amount of self leveling concrete, then reinstall/reglue the original floor to correct the flexing?
3. can i pour the self level directly onto the tile? do i need to apply primer since it is not going onto concrete? should i rough up the tile to give the self level better adhesion?
4. How long should i wait before reinstalling the floor? I know tile can go down quickly but wood floor usually requires longer cure time. Since this is floating with a moisture barrier can it go down after a few hours or do i need to wait longer?
I realize the "right" answer is that it probably all needs to come out and be installed properly. Either bust out all the tile, level and glue down or even pour over the tile and glue down. This is close to a million dollar home and probably 2000+ sq ft of wood in this area. The owner has no interest in spending 20-30k to redo the floor so looking for options to make this area manageable.
Thanks for any advice.
Ricky
1. Is there any other situations that could cause this that i am not thinking of?
2. If i am able remove the floor in this area without damaging it(i have no spare pieces at all) can i pour a small amount of self leveling concrete, then reinstall/reglue the original floor to correct the flexing?
3. can i pour the self level directly onto the tile? do i need to apply primer since it is not going onto concrete? should i rough up the tile to give the self level better adhesion?
4. How long should i wait before reinstalling the floor? I know tile can go down quickly but wood floor usually requires longer cure time. Since this is floating with a moisture barrier can it go down after a few hours or do i need to wait longer?
I realize the "right" answer is that it probably all needs to come out and be installed properly. Either bust out all the tile, level and glue down or even pour over the tile and glue down. This is close to a million dollar home and probably 2000+ sq ft of wood in this area. The owner has no interest in spending 20-30k to redo the floor so looking for options to make this area manageable.
Thanks for any advice.
Ricky