Framing and Sub-Flooring - old house floor replacement

Greetings all, I'm in the process of renovating the kitchen in our 100 year old house. I've torn off the top couple of layers of old vinyl sheet and masonite down to the original fir flooring(which has water damage), which sits on top of plank subflooring. Its a little wavy with with peaks and valleys here and there. I really don't want to remove another layer. I'm thinking of screwing down some 3/4 " advantech over the top. We're undecided at this point what the floor covering will be. Any other suggestions or input? Can vinyl sheet be installed directly over the advantech? Is the 3/4" advantech overkill? thanks, Steve.

I know that you don't want to hear it but I would remove the layer with the water damage. Then go with the 3/4 ply.

I hear what you're saying, but my back and ambition are not up to removing another layer. I ended up using 3/4" Advantech, glued with PL400 and ring shank nailed. It's like walking on a concrete floor, so far anyway.

Greetings,
As long as the flooring with the water damage was completely dry and no more issues that it may get wet, you will be just fine and I dont feel the 3/4 was overkill as you have said it feels as solid as walking on concrete. So you have accomplished a nice and solid sub floor. If you plan to glue down your vinyl flooring then it will be fine over the avantach as long as you use a nice heavy roller to go over the whole floor once its down.

Unless you are dead set on vinyl flooring I would like to suggest you look for a local outlet or closeout store, most I visit have laminate wood flooring for very good prices. No glue, nails or screws needed. Snap lock style laminate wood floor such as this Lumber Liquidators: 1/2" x 5" Natural Black Ash Sable (http://www.lumberliquidators.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=7036&parentCategoryId=20&categoryId=443&subCategoryId=37&nonFlooring=1) will last far longer in your kitchen and unless you don't like the wood floor look it will give you a higher home value for the and looks so much nicer then vinyl sheet or vinyl tiles.

BUT- The laminate flooring is not very water resistant at all. Its made of wood fibers. A lot of folks say that it has tight seams and that water cannot get into them. That ma be true enough if you spill a glass of milk and quickly mop it up. But what about some other situations... Murphys law says that anything can happen. Wet boots, leaking fridge or sink. Old mcdonalds cup soaks thru and runs down off the counter... Whatever.

My buddy put the laminate in his kitchin and the dish machine leaked. All of his laminate flooring buckled until it dried then it shrank. Now it looks like crap and needs replacing.

I used it in the office and it worked great. Very nice. But the kitchin and bathroom are just too moisture intensive to use it I think.

We redid a 100 yr old bathroom w/ uneven walls, floors, ect. We found a high quality vinyl floor at a flooring store that had no regular pattern. It was very thick and textured. We glued it down properly (not the edge glue method) and it really took care of all the problems. No pattern running off into the uneven walls. Any bumps and such were camoflaged by the textured pattern.

I would tell you to look into that. Vinyl is a great high traffic floor covering IMHO. Good luck!

What is done is done, once he nailed the new stuff over the old, there is no use trying to explain how he did something wrong.

My only advice is not to get in a hurry and do it right the first time.

Usually when you do a exploratory, you find other things that were done wrong that will cost you more money in the long run then if you just cover over it and try to get a few more years out of it.