Skip Helms
Member
Hello everyone and thanks for looking. I am redoing my kitchen after we had a mildew problem with all the rain this year in Western NC. I understand it's going around. There was a little black mold which was easy to fix but the main problem was the pinkish stuff that had gotten behind the backing boards. So far I've completely removed all of the old cabinets and two layers of linoleum. Under that is 1/2" ply, 3/4" ply and 4/4 red oak on the joists -- 2-1/4" thick altogether. It is all in good shape with no rot.
My problem is that using a laser level I took readings about every two feet and have as much as 1 1/8" difference between the highest and lowest spots along the 28' span but the dips are more pronounced along the width.
This is a 65 year old house and the basement has been jacked many times over the years for sags. As you'd expect, the lower spots are away from the foundation. The lowest is under a load-bearing wall and I'm slowly cranking a new jack up right now but I am running out of places to brace. All of the joists are in good shape. We've been here 18 years and I don't think it has settled much more over that time.
My idea was to use vinyl plank flooring but the floor as it sits seems to be out of spec for that unless I do some serious leveling. I've wondered about self-leveling compounds, laying up shingles or even ripping up the top layer of ply. I'm not worried about the level of the kitchen vs other rooms leading in and the ceiling is 8'3".
If anyone has some ideas on how to go about reaching an acceptable level of flat, I'm all ears and thanks for considering my situation. Also, if the moderator wants to move this to a more specific sub-forum, that's great too. Cheers and good luck with your projects, sh
PS, FWIW, my basement is a full wood shop with all the equipment I'm using for the new cabinets. I haven't done a lot of remodeling flooring but I've built houses from slab to shingles and am generally handy and own lots of tools most newcomers might not have or have used. sh
My problem is that using a laser level I took readings about every two feet and have as much as 1 1/8" difference between the highest and lowest spots along the 28' span but the dips are more pronounced along the width.
This is a 65 year old house and the basement has been jacked many times over the years for sags. As you'd expect, the lower spots are away from the foundation. The lowest is under a load-bearing wall and I'm slowly cranking a new jack up right now but I am running out of places to brace. All of the joists are in good shape. We've been here 18 years and I don't think it has settled much more over that time.
My idea was to use vinyl plank flooring but the floor as it sits seems to be out of spec for that unless I do some serious leveling. I've wondered about self-leveling compounds, laying up shingles or even ripping up the top layer of ply. I'm not worried about the level of the kitchen vs other rooms leading in and the ceiling is 8'3".
If anyone has some ideas on how to go about reaching an acceptable level of flat, I'm all ears and thanks for considering my situation. Also, if the moderator wants to move this to a more specific sub-forum, that's great too. Cheers and good luck with your projects, sh
PS, FWIW, my basement is a full wood shop with all the equipment I'm using for the new cabinets. I haven't done a lot of remodeling flooring but I've built houses from slab to shingles and am generally handy and own lots of tools most newcomers might not have or have used. sh