Last month I was bidding a finished basement in Portland and they wanted LVP. I was torn between glue-down and floating click. Glue-down takes more time on the subfloor prep but it feels solid underfoot. I went with floating because the concrete had some minor moisture readings around 4%. I finished it in two days solo and the customer texted me a picture of their kids playing on it yesterday. Anyone else lean one way over the other for basements?
Last month I was installing some pretty tough porcelain tile in a kitchen remodel over in Arlington. This old school guy at the supply house said I should wet cut all my tiles even for small jobs. I always thought it was a waste of time for simple straight cuts, so I brushed him off. Halfway through the job I had three tiles chip on me and had to run back for replacements. Has anyone else had better luck with wet cutting over dry cutting?
I had a job last week where the concrete slab had this ONE high spot right in the middle of the room. I thought I could grind it down in 30 minutes tops. Four hours later I was still going at it with the grinder and a cup wheel. The dust was EVERYWHERE even with a dust shroud on my rig. Anyone else run into a spot that just would not level out and ended up way over schedule?
Some woman at the supply house yesterday told her husband that glue-down LVP is outdated and they should go with click-lock because it's easier. I wanted to chime in but kept my mouth shut. I've installed over 200 glue-down jobs in the last 5 years and maybe 3 have had issues. Click-lock planks in a big open room with sun exposure? I've seen those joints separate in under 2 years. Am I wrong for thinking glue-down is still the better call for commercial or wide open spaces?
Guy who's been laying floor since the 70s told me I'm wasting money on the fancy foam underlayment for click lock vinyl. Said he just uses the cheap 2mm stuff and hasn't had a call back in 20 years in Cleveland. Any of you guys go with the cheap stuff over the premium brands?
Talked to an old timer at the supplier Tuesday, and he pointed out I was holding my speed square backwards for marking 45s on stair stringers. He said 'you're making it harder than it needs to be' and showed me a trick using the pivot point against the board edge. I've been doing it the hard way since I started in 2016, and his way saved me like 20 minutes per set of stairs. Made me wonder how many other basic tools I'm using wrong without knowing. Anyone else pick up a simple tip that made a big difference way later than it should have?
Last month I pulled up a job in Austin where the GC skipped the meter test and now the planks are cupping everywhere. Who else has walked into a nightmare fix because someone thought skipping the prep was fine?
Last Friday I was working a commercial job in downtown Portland, about 1,200 square feet of glue-down LVP. Everything was going smooth until I noticed the adhesive was not tacking up right after about 2 hours. Turns out the supplier gave me a batch that was past its expiration date and I had already laid down half the floor. Had to peel up 600 bucks worth of material and redo it all on Saturday. Has anyone else had a supplier screw them over with bad adhesive and not offer to make it right?
I used to do click-lock lvp over concrete with just the perimeter glue, and i had callbacks every 6 months in winter for joints peaking. Moved to trowel-on full spread adhesive last january, same brand planks, same slab prep. Out of 22 jobs since then, zero have come back with issues. Anybody else notice that floating floors just don't hold up in real world temps?
I was doing this big glue down LVP job about 8 months ago on a slab in Charlotte and this 60 year old guy walks through. He watches me trowel out a row and says 'you're using way too much glue son that's gonna bubble on you.' I laughed it off but sure enough three days later I'm back because the homeowner felt bumps under her feet. That stuff puffed up like pancakes. Now I run a 1/16 notch and go lighter. Saved me so much time on the last 2000 square foot office I did. Anyone else get humbled by a random walk through?
For the longest time I would spend 45 minutes just trying to get a transition strip to sit flat between LVP and tile. I'd cut it, recut it, sand the edges, and it still looked like garbage half the time. Then last spring I did a kitchen in Austin where the homeowner was watching me struggle and goes 'why don't you just use a T-mold with a track instead of that gluedown crap?' I felt like an idiot because I'd been using the same method for 6 years. Now I switched to track-in T-molds for any transition over 3/8 inch gap and it takes me maybe 10 minutes total. Has anyone else had a moment where a customer pointed out something simple that totally changed your workflow?
I used to always nail down transition strips between rooms because that's how my old boss showed me back in 2008. Last month I swapped to using adhesive only on a job in a new house with radiant heating and it saved me so much hassle with the floor moving. Has anyone else switched methods for transitions and found it works better?
A commercial GC yelled at me for wearing my knee pads too low on my shins during a 4,000 sqft LVP job in Phoenix. He showed me how to pull them up so the thick pad sits right on my kneecap instead. Any of you guys had a boss change your whole setup with one tip like that?
I pulled up a laminate job last week in Portland where the homeowner couldn't close three interior doors. The previous installer ran T-moldings right under the door bottoms without cutting the door or adjusting the hinge depth. Does anyone else run into this or am I the only one measuring door swing first?
I read a study last week from a safety journal that said wearing kneepads long term can actually weaken your knee joints over time because you stop engaging those stabilizing muscles. I've been using the ProKnee X frames for like 6 years now and my knees feel fine, but the article had data from 200 installers. Other side says kneepads save you from direct impact damage which is way worse. So which is it? I'm torn. Anyone else run into this research or got a strong opinion either way?
So I bought this fancy pinless moisture meter last month for a 2,000 square foot LVP install in a new build out in Surprise. The subfloor read fine on my old meter but this new one flagged a concrete slab at 8% moisture. I held up the job for 3 days waiting for the GC to dry it out and it turned out the meter was just reading surface humidity from the air. The slab was fine the whole time. Has anyone else had a moisture meter give you a false alarm like that?
The homeowner kept saying it looked fine but I measured a 3/8 inch dip across the living room and now they're paying double for a leveling pour, has anyone else dealt with customers who argue about prep work?
I bought a laminate that claimed click-lock was faster and cleaner, but it started popping apart at the seams after just 6 months in my Denver basement. Has anyone else had better luck with click-lock brands versus actual glue-down floors in basements?
Guy at the supply house said he saved $600 by not using it on a 2,000 sqft laminate install. That's just asking for callbacks and creaky floors down the road. Any of you run into customers who try to push you into skipping it?
Me and my crew were behind schedule on a 4,000 sqft office buildout. The GC was breathing down our necks. So I skimped on the subfloor moisture test and just laid down the glue. 3 weeks later we had bubbles everywhere. Had to rip up a whole section and redo it. That mistake cost me way more than the time it woulda taken to wait for the test. Has anyone else had a big job go sideways from skipping a step you knew better than to skip?
I spent 3 hours last Thursday tearing out a perfect tile job in Columbus because the old plywood had delaminated underneath and I didn't tap-test it first so now I check every square foot before I lay anything.
Last month I took a job replacing laminate in a kitchen near Toledo. The old owner had put down that cheap foam underlayment and it turned into mush from a tiny dishwasher leak. I had to tear up 400 square feet, scrape off sticky backing, and lay new plywood before even starting the flooring. That one oversight added 8 hours to the job. Has anyone else run into surprise subfloor damage from hidden moisture?
I was installing some 5-inch wide plank vinyl in a kitchen in Boise, about 300 square feet in. Halfway through a row, my pneumatic nailer just locked up with a fastener stuck in the chamber. I had to stop everything, clear the line, and break down the tool on the subfloor to get the jammed nail out. It set me back almost two hours on the schedule. Anyone have a go-to method for clearing those jams fast without taking the whole thing apart?