Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - 3/8" White Oak installed over LINOLEUM... HELP!
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djrobsd
07-15-06, 11:16 AM
Some shady hardwood floor installer convinced me that it would be OK for him to install hardwood floor over the linoleum in the kitchen.. He installed 3/8" White Oak flooring, mostly just to match the existing flooring in my house since it's 80 years old.
At the time he installed it, I was concerned about the install over linoleum. The linoleum had already been installed over an existing linoleum, so there were 2 layers of linoleum and then plywood, which he said would "make a fabulous moisture barrier".
Great and fine, but guess what? The linoleum expands and contracts quite a bit, and when you walk on the floor you can hear the crackling of the linoleum underneith the wood. And now that I am done remodeling my kitchen, I put my fridge back in there, and within 2 days of putting that weight on the floor, the floors are now SEPERATING.
There is a 1/32" gap now in 2 places on the floor. The gap goes all the way across the kitchen.... I'm very concerned that further seperation will occur.
The contractor of course is long gone, phone disconnected, etc etc... Gee, isn't that a surprise? ;)
So, now what I'm wondering is... Should I rip the floor up, trying to salvage as much of the wood as possible, and re-install it, this time pulling up the linoleum and the plywood and installing it directly to the subfloor underneith....
Or, should I just leave it alone, and enjoy my beautiful new kitchen, and just have the floors sanded and refinished at a later date? I mean when they sand and refinish, they usually fill in all these type of gaps with wood dough, although I notice that the filler material usually starts coming out of the floor within months of them re-finishing the floor... Probably yet another shady contractor job is why that's happening in the rest of my house.
Any ideas/suggestions?
At the time he installed it, I was concerned about the install over linoleum. The linoleum had already been installed over an existing linoleum, so there were 2 layers of linoleum and then plywood, which he said would "make a fabulous moisture barrier".
Great and fine, but guess what? The linoleum expands and contracts quite a bit, and when you walk on the floor you can hear the crackling of the linoleum underneith the wood. And now that I am done remodeling my kitchen, I put my fridge back in there, and within 2 days of putting that weight on the floor, the floors are now SEPERATING.
There is a 1/32" gap now in 2 places on the floor. The gap goes all the way across the kitchen.... I'm very concerned that further seperation will occur.
The contractor of course is long gone, phone disconnected, etc etc... Gee, isn't that a surprise? ;)
So, now what I'm wondering is... Should I rip the floor up, trying to salvage as much of the wood as possible, and re-install it, this time pulling up the linoleum and the plywood and installing it directly to the subfloor underneith....
Or, should I just leave it alone, and enjoy my beautiful new kitchen, and just have the floors sanded and refinished at a later date? I mean when they sand and refinish, they usually fill in all these type of gaps with wood dough, although I notice that the filler material usually starts coming out of the floor within months of them re-finishing the floor... Probably yet another shady contractor job is why that's happening in the rest of my house.
Any ideas/suggestions?
Craig 845
07-15-06, 01:21 PM
Your problem is that you used 3/8" oak flooring over the linoleum. If you had gone to 3/4" strip flooring, and it was installed properly, I don't think you would be having the problems that you are. Personally, I would not have put a new hardwood floor over anything but a clean subfloor. It's your call, take it up or leave it and finish the floor.
P.S. All contractors are not shady.
P.S. All contractors are not shady.