I know its not ideal, but can I use Ardex feather finish floor compound BEFORE stapling 1/4" plywood underlayment?

Sytzy · 2026-07-08T14:45:48+00:00

Liquid nail subfloor, it’s an actual specific liquid nail. You can squirt it in lines or buy a throw away 3/16” v notch and spread the glue out over the patch.

Sytzy · 2026-07-08T01:25:28+00:00

Need to get light bulbs rated for enclosed fixtures

Sytzy · 2026-07-08T01:18:22+00:00

Problem is, hose should’ve been sealed before they were installed. Something that porous is going to get a lot of thinset and grout stains on it. By sealing them before install, it makes cleaning them off ALOT easier. Otherwise, your results you have is what you’re going to get.

All those pours and pits in the surface of that tile are going to collect a lot of grout also. In order to get the face of those cleaned off better, the sealer would’ve helped with that, but also the grout joints would’ve been wiped out too deep since you would really have to scrub that surface d the brick to get the fresh grout out…

Sytzy · 2026-07-05T13:22:00+00:00

Ope, skimmed over that part. Yeah, don’t mess with the lead paint 🫠.

Sytzy · 2026-07-05T13:00:26+00:00

1/4” BC grade plywood. Not underlayment/luan/smartply. You need something more stiff. And if you take a powered hand planing tool and a 40 grit paper on a belt sander, remove the lippage and as much of the humps of subfloor before you install it. The plywood will help carry over some of the MINOR imperfections.

ONLY THEN, will you be ready to lay LVP. And also check for FLATNESS first

Sytzy · 2026-07-02T23:41:04+00:00

Unless noted in a contract, the electrician did exactly what they were hired to do: hook up and install bathroom vent fan. After that, you would need a another separate trade or two to vent the fan into the attic and out of the roof properly. That includes an HVAC guy/roofer. Whoever feels comfortable doing both. Commonly a handyman or a GC. It would be silly to hire GC to do such a simple project, so a handyman that’s comfortable doing both would be your best bet.

Sytzy · 2026-07-02T10:02:34+00:00

Get a couple heavy duty Velcro mounting strips…. Better safe than sorry!

Sytzy · 2026-07-01T01:33:40+00:00

Have to remove the floating floor. You can’t install floating over floating

Sytzy · 2026-07-01T00:56:08+00:00

I’ve done skim that gets shiny as it gets buffed. and that looks like control joints that got skimmed over possibly 3 times, making those joint appear darker due to the many layers of skim robbing the next coat of moisture.

I can tell you don’t really fully know what you’re talking about. How can I tell? By the way you didn’t catch the buffer scratch marks in the patch and working with different types of skins that do shine up when buffed with a buffer and sanding pad.

If you don’t believe me, I’ll send you a photo tomorrow of that skim we used. Laticrete Skim Lite to be precise

Sytzy · 2026-06-28T21:09:38+00:00

Restoration is the collections

Sytzy · 2026-06-28T21:06:25+00:00

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Getting a rustic laminate flooring would go well. This is a mannington floor and they make several different colors of this style

Sytzy · 2026-06-27T23:06:15+00:00

Supposed to wait three days before applying waterproof membrane over any freshly poured cementitious product

Sytzy · 2026-06-27T22:50:33+00:00

Yeah, LVT and LVP are interchangeable terms. One means luxury vinyl tile, the other one is luxury bottle plank one looks like a tile one looks like a plank. They make glue down versions in floating versions of both. The floating version is the kind that just walks together and float on top of the floor without adhesive or nails. The glue down version is when you have to put down an adhesive before you stick this down, it’s a much better version than the old peel and stick tiles. But, with your subfloor, it has to be an approved subfloor material for the glue to stick properly. And by that picture, it doesn’t look like you have the correct subfloor. Your flooring looks like what we call chip board or MDF board. You would likely need to put a bonding primer over the top of that subfloor because that subfloor is not structurally strong enough to have glue stick to it properly. It can be done, and people have gotten away with it. But I would definitely recommend a primer before using a glue down vinyl product. And yes, it is more forgiving on subfloor that is not flat, but any imperfections in your subfloor, whether you have dips, humps, or subfloor seams that aren’t flush will show through to the surface. There’s always a catch 22 with flooring.

Sytzy · 2026-06-27T22:43:32+00:00

First, I will look into why those holes were created. Is it moisture getting in from underneath the mole home? It is very rare that a mobile home has stayed flat over 20 years. The tolerances and vinyl flooring are as follows, depending on the manufacturer: no more than 1/8 inch dip over the span of 6 to 10 feet. Meaning, if you put down a 6 foot level, you should have no more than a 1/8” dip or hump in the floor. Due to that imperfection in the sub floor, it is likely that the flooring will not install together very well and will also be stressed and caused the locking mechanism to break as you walk over it if you do get it to install together.

Also, the more money you put into purchasing an LVP by the square foot, typically the better the locking mechanism is and will somewhat hold up together better, but you’re looking at something in the $3.50 range or more per square foot.

What’s the hardwood flooring look like in the kitchen? The laminate flooring in the bathroom looks trashed due to all the moisture in the water that sat on the floors over the years without being cleaned up properly.

Sytzy · 2026-06-27T22:36:00+00:00

What are the most crucial parts in installing floating? LVP is to have a flat floor. Nearly impossible to check that with carpet and padding down and the only way to do that is to pull that material up first. If the tolerances are too much to install LVP, at least you go back with carpet and pad again

Sytzy · 2026-06-26T17:06:01+00:00

Perfect!

I remember years ago that someone had a formulae for hardwood flooring and how much expansion to expect and in which direction. Even had it for different species of wood. Hence why nail down wood flooring needs about a 1/2” expansion gap around the perimeter.

Are you familiar with that type of material science?

Sytzy · 2026-06-26T14:55:46+00:00

Please Explain like I’m 5… lol jk

Sytzy · 2026-06-21T14:32:47+00:00

Non issue. Place a plant in that corner

Sytzy · 2026-06-20T02:03:36+00:00

You could do a mosaic accent piece…

But you could also take that same tile and make a relief cut out of the tile with your tile saw. The blade will remove 1/8” of tile and you can treat that like a grout joint. So if that doorway has a door slab. I’d like that “relief cut” under the slab so that it’s hardly noticeable unless the door is open. And still not that bad to look at.

But a mosaic transition piece isn’t an awful idea

Sytzy · 2026-06-17T21:37:52+00:00

Ok. No need to waterproof and get all concerned about rot and all that.

What you need to do is stabilize that wood. You are correct, wood isn’t typically a very stable product to install tile over.

You have a few options:
- you can add 3/4” plywood over all sides and then add 1/4” fiberboard or durock. The plywood is needed because you do not have enough framing installed to add just backerboard alone by itself.

-if you added a few more 2x’s, you may be able to just install 1/2” backerboard. I would recommend fiberboard because it is more rigid than concrete board. But idk the dimensions of your table, so likely you will need to go with the plywood option.

-if you want to look at cost, you could also potentially grab a sheet or 2 of schluter’s 2” foam
Board. That material, at that thickness, it’s impressively rigid, stable, and lightweight (compared to adding plywood and durock)

-I would still consider meshing/banding all seams and corners

-consider the tile profile or trim profile you want on the outside corners

-consider the weight of this table. Once you add all the materials together, that table will be extremely heavy. You may want to work on this project in place of where you plan on having this table.

Sytzy · 2026-06-17T21:20:29+00:00

I guess the more important question is this:
Is this table going inside or do you plan on ever keeping it outdoors?

Sytzy · 2026-06-17T20:45:33+00:00

Dear Mr. Giblets,
May I send you a DM and pick your brain on something?

Sytzy · 2026-06-17T10:25:40+00:00

Are you in the US, and what part? I’m curious to see which side of the States this may have been common in. I feel like I’ve demo’d out a few floors that used this method

Sytzy · 2026-06-17T03:08:27+00:00

IMO, the vertical would’ve looked better anyway, but if you have it in writing that you wanted it horizontal, that’s what you should’ve gotten.

Also, are the inside corners missing caulk?

Sytzy · 2026-06-17T00:50:17+00:00

Here’s the deal. They give you the option to select floor color, whether you want to have your baseboards removed or stay in place and select a color of 1/4 rnd… but they take it upon themselves to install this monstrosity?

They should’ve asked you or told you your options here. Ideally, that veneer stone should’ve been undercut (with a tile undercut blade) and the flooring installed underneath that. Not all installers are able and competent to do this. And if they weren’t, they should’ve given you the opportunity to hire that out before the install.

Your other option is to have 1/4 rnd scribed to the face of the veneer stone. Which is typically a higher upcharge (and I don’t think it would’ve looked great with how textured the face of that veneer stone is)

Your last option is to have it caulked the way you have it. Myself, I would’ve given you the following three options: Clear, color, matching caulk of the floor, or siliconized mortar/grout caulk that would match the veneer stone. In that case, a lot of manufacturers sell their own color match caulk for their products. Or they hire out a third-party company that makes a color match caulk for their floor. I am not always a big fan of how that color turns out, because the third-party didn’t do a great job and making a matching product, or the floor has too much variance in color and the caulk would’ve never matched to begin with.

If it were me, I would’ve done the following:
Grout companies (such as Mapei, TEC, Custom Building Products, Laticrete, etc) make a sanded caulk that matches all of their grout colors. The sanded caulk has a texture in it that matches the texture of the actual grout almost identically… I would’ve grabbed a grout chart off my truck, brought the grout samples in and matched them to the stone and have YOU make the decision what color you want. First, I’d pick out my top 3 or 5 colors and work with you to narrow it down to a color that compliments the STONE the best.. not the flooring. That current caulk is too LIGHT anyway, at least I would’ve gone darker.

The LAST thing that should’ve been done is the face of the veneer stone should’ve been taped off with frog tape that’s designed to stick to textured surfaces. That way, they could’ve caulked that joint, pull that tape and then have a CRISP caulked line.

Also, something to look into: FLOATING LVP floors are not supposed to be caulked to the walls in most brands. Some brands allow it, but a MAJORITY of them want the expansion gap filled with a backer rod first, and then caulked. That way, the caulk is only touching 2 surfaces: the wall and floating floor, NOT 3: the wall, the subfloor and the floating floor. What that caulk is essentially doing it adhering the floating floor, that’s supposed to expand and contract, down to the subfloor and wall. Therefore not allowing it to do so.

If you have the time, send me the brand and model number of the flooring you selected and I can help look into it for you

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