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VCT to OSB flooring question

nonhog

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Nov 6, 2007
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2,449
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Arizona (Tucson)
So my loft floor is T&G OSB and I have a bunch of VCT my guess is if I want to add these tiles in the loft I would need to lay down a skim coat of leveler.
On the right track ?
Anything else to consider ?
 
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'the epoxy floor guy'

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Aug 30, 2008
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162
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Iowa
As long as your floor is NOT have jumps at the end of the sheets you should be ok.

if you have a few "bumps" use a belt sander this will quickly even them out. VCT Adhesive is going to "float out" up to 1/16" without much problems. Ten minutes with a belt sander should give you the same or better results than the floor leveler. If you sand you do not have to worry about the leveler sticking to the OSB.

Generally if OSB swells it is ONLY at the edges and possibly the screw/nail holes. Again sanding these SMALL areas would be Much better long and short term.
 

ssleepingbeauty

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Jan 17, 2006
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106
Location
Washington
Yes you MUST put something over the seams. Or the VCT WILL eventually crack at every seam over time, so you will see every seam in the underlayment transfer right through your VCT. And NO the adhesive cannot be used to float anything. It is strictly used for adhering the tiles.:thumbup:

PS I do have something like 27 years experience installing VCT for a living if you have any questions:thumbup:
 
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boiler7904

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Apr 4, 2006
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NW IN
As long as your floor is NOT have jumps at the end of the sheets you should be ok.

if you have a few "bumps" use a belt sander this will quickly even them out. VCT Adhesive is going to "float out" up to 1/16" without much problems. Ten minutes with a belt sander should give you the same or better results than the floor leveler. If you sand you do not have to worry about the leveler sticking to the OSB.

Generally if OSB swells it is ONLY at the edges and possibly the screw/nail holes. Again sanding these SMALL areas would be Much better long and short term.

You don't use adhesive to float a floor. That's what floor leveling and patch compounds are for. 1/16" of glue will never set up right and will only create problems down the road.

Make sure that all of the OSB is screwed down properly before doing any additional work.

I agree that you'll want to sand any ridges in the floor before skim coating the floor.
 

john2499

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Joined
Sep 1, 2008
Messages
4
I can tell you how I would approach it, and have previously. I am assuming you are going to going over the existing the OSB directly, and not put down some 1/4" underlayment. First, I would rent a floor sander/buffer (Home Depot rents them.) and buy a few 80 grit sanding discs. Then sand the entire floor. I would use sixteen 7/8 " staples every square foot to prevent any future movement of the OSB, you could also use roofing nails or drywall screws, but both can get pretty tiring. When you are finished stapling/nailing whichever, using a 6" or 8" flexible mudding knife, feel for any staples that are protruding above the surface and hammer them down. You will be surprised how many were not driven down completely. I would now skim coat the entire floor with a cement based underlayment like Mapei Ultra Skim-Coat or Ardex Feather Finish, using at least a 12" trowel. When that is dry you could sand it using the rented buffer and some fine grit paper using fast breaths back and forth over the surface. But, I think scraping down the the ridges, left from the trowel, using a 6" scraper will suffice. Now as far as using adhesive as a leveler, I could not recommend strongly enough against it. That is a lot of glue on the floor and will take days if not weeks to cure and when it does, it will be too resilient. Furthermore that much glue will just make a big mess, remember the reason for using a notched trowel to spread glue is to not leave that much behind, a lot goes along way. Speaking of adhesive a 1/32" trowel will do the trick, and make sure to use firm pressure. I learned this as an apprentice, the journeyman do not like it when there are puddles of glue left on the floor, it will always seep through the seams and you have to hear about it over lunch.

John
 
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