Self-leveling compound on top of hardwood floor?


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Old 04-28-17, 06:26 PM
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Self-leveling compound on top of hardwood floor?

I'm replacing the flooring throughout my neglected 90-year-old house as part of a complete remodel. The house is on a raised foundation and has a few layers of flooring. carpet on top, various vinyl tile flooring under that (depending on the room) which covers 3/8" hardwood at the bottom with another layer of plank wood subflooring below that.

My original plan was to remove the carpet and vinyl and refinish the hardwood. That isn't going to work (so please don't reprimand me), as the hardwood wasn't very good stuff to begin with, and it has suffered a lot of moisture damage in places from a constantly wet crawlspace over the years, as well as subterranean termites and dry rot. Believe me, I would if I could. It would be cheaper and preferred.

My new plan is to remove all carpet and as much of the vinyl tiles that will come up, lay down some Aquabar "B" underlayment, and then cover the hardwood with a floating LVP floor that has a cork backer (Coretec HD).

I started with the master bedroom and closet. After moving a wall in the closet and tearing out a small patch of hardwood that was bad in the back corner due to termite damage in the subflooring, I'm left with a surface that doesn't seem that level. I wanted to lay some self-leveling compound, but the only one that I can find that works on a hardwood and vinyl (I think?) surfaces is Feather Finish. My first run at Feather Finish showed it to be super thick and barely workable for about 5 minutes. Nothing like a self leveling compound.

Here are the photos of the floor in the closet:
https://goo.gl/photos/CndJyMN7hfngcHjL8

Any advice would be hugely welcomed. Thanks.
 
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Old 04-29-17, 05:05 AM
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Welcome to the forums! My biggest concern would be the description of your subflooring. You mention water damage and termites. Has that been addressed? If not, I would not proceed until I replaced the damaged wood and ensured the water problem and termites were gone.

I would not put Aquabar over what you have as it is too rough and could possibly telegraph irregularities to your finished floor. Your floor not being "level" is due to structural problems that could be corrected better from beneath the house. I would check footers and foundation components to make sure they are still in good shape and correct it as needed. The main thing you need is "flat", not necessarily "level"

I would, also, layer over the subflooring with another 1/2" plywood to give a flatter overall surface to lay in your vinyl planks.
 
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Old 05-12-17, 06:13 PM
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Agreed - LEVEL isn't a problem. The floor needs to be FLAT (or reasonably close to it). You can fix minor issues using heavy weight floor felt, built up in layers if need be. Usually decent underlayment is good to use before putting down a new wood floor. I wouldn't skimp on this - I'd use "floor muffler" or better, especially since you'll have those old boards underneath.

Oh - and give that new wood floor LOTS of time to properly acclimate to your house. Very often the boards one gets needs at LEAST 2 weeks if not more like 4-6 before install. Also make sure that the nails will be long enough to account for the extra thickness of the wood floor below the new one. Standard 2" nails may not be quite long enough.

Good luck!
 
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Old 05-13-17, 06:56 AM
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The LVP he is planning on installing needs minimal acclimation. No nails for installation as it floats. Additional subflooring will give a flat surface that won't telegraph through the LVP.
 
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Old 05-24-17, 12:51 PM
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The water damage and termite damaged subflooring seems to be addressed. There are some floor joists with subterranean termite damage that will need to be replaced in various areas around the house, and that will be cutout from underneath when opening up the outside wall when replacing the siding.

Adding 1/2" plywood over everything would raise the flooring 1/2" higher than adjacent rooms and cause issues with the door between the two rooms. It looks like it's either a thin layer over what's there, or tear out and start over with a new subfloor.
 
 

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