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Blueprint Request
Hi Joe,
I love all your content! I’m a first timer trying to absorb as much as I can before I start. My Costco Mohawk Home Tallulah Pine Waterproof Rigid 5mm Thick Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring + 1mm Attached Pad Included (7-1/2″ W x 48” L) is here already, having ordered it only a few days ago, to my surprise. I plan to order QuietWalk to put down over the concrete stem wall floor that I have, once I get the carpet and pad up, and I prep things. I have a single sheet of vinyl sheet flooring only in the other areas over the concrete stem slab wall. I don’t suppose I’ll need QuietWalk to go over those vinyl sheet flooring areas? (I’m the first homeowner of my home.)
I’ve attached my blueprint.
Do you suggest I just feather into the eat-in kitchen leaving the vinyl sheet flooring as-is? What happens when/if I start the vinyl sheet flooring areas and they may not be totally flat? I have a few areas of concern:
Is all the prep really “required”? I’ve never had any known water issues with carpet nor vinyl. (Moisture tests? Staying within the installation measurement of flatness?)
The Great Room has a transition that protrudes out from the wall.
I would ideally love to avoid transitions on the areas to be lvp-ed, leaving the existing builder grade hardwoods down.I’m a little apprehensive about making all the cuts, in light of all the nooks in crannies within the open floor plan, especially around the island and between the cabinets, stove, dishwasher, and chimney to name a few. But, I’ll keep watching your cheater board tips!
We have a ginormous heavy and long sectional recliner sofa. Any tools to “safely” (rent possibly and) move things myself? Is it “safe” to have this kind of furniture with this product?
I’m all ears. How do you advise that I start and tackle this project?
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
-Torrii
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75 Replies
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Good morning Joe.
I’ll jump right into your questions for me. (I’m the first homeowner… home being built in 2005 near Raleigh, NC).
beginning: Yes. You have that exactly right in terms of the flooring areas to be LVP-ed.
3:50 Height difference between plank and hardwood? Caveats. I haven’t purchased the QuietWalk yet since Costco still advertises the planks to arrive from 4-6 weeks instead of the 3 days it took me to get mine. Secondly, I haven’t removed all the glue from the carpet strips either. Pulling up the tap strips on the glue show the nail holes and in some cases chipped the concrete. I want to think that the remaining glue is 1/16 tall though. Is it advised that I somehow cut into the existing t-molding (as you show with your door jambs)? Or do you think a fresher/newer t-molding would be nicer there? Please see the attached pictures because I’m sure I’ll get this measurement wrong. </font>
4:40 Personally, I want to run the plank in the easiest diy direction for myself as you pointed out in your first example. (But, if you think that most realtors would like me to run it “against” the builder hardwoods, then I would be more open to that.)
5:10 Yes. The chimney is angled with the TV stand/nook on top. Please see the attached pictures.
5:41 The powder room doesn’t connect to anything — so that’s the same thing that I was thinking. I got that one right! Unfortunately right now, I have a lot more confidence to be built up still though.
7:31 What side are my tongue and groove on? Please see the attached. (I’m not sure.)
7:41 Yes. It’s all on the first floor of 2 floors. I don’t want to think about the second floor right now, unless you think that will help? Would they need to both run the same way on both floors for better whole house visuals?
7:50 Correct. The wall is me stumbling through the software without messing up other things it took me hours to fix. There should be no separation inside the house.
8:10 Correct. You nailed it. It is all connected. Thank you for doing that!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you Joe!
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Ok. I will get this to you by Monday.
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Thanks
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Here is your blueprint – http://somup.com/cr6TDV3ACX
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Hi Joe, Thanks for the blueprint. My apologies for perhaps the floorplan wasn’t as clear as it needed to be. I will have to deal with the fireplace first. As you suggested, when coming from the eat-in kitchen, as I would extend out the plank, it will hit the fireplace. I’ve attached pictures for your advice on the best way to deal with this and/or any black trim suggestions that you may have. FYI: The black piece feels pretty heavy, and underneath it there seems to be some sort of cement-like? plate just below it, above the stem wall concrete slab.
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I cannot really tell how thick it is. What is the difference in height when the plank is up next to it?
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I don’t have the QuietWalk yet, but the current difference is almost a full inch. 15/16″
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You are gonna need to use a reducer there. You can also use A quarter round and paint it the color of the hearth. Or, you can leave an 1/8th of an inch gap and use a colored silicone to fill the gap in.
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Thanks!
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Good morning Joe,
About the 6 min mark of my blueprint, you advise to measure from one wall to the next. I get 143 (half is 71.5) inches roughly, but I’m literally measuring from above my waste, without floor access because of the cabinetry/counters. Half way point (half is 71.5 inches) runs right through the first third (as measured from the inside kitchen & outside wall of the laundry room) of the island.
I haven’t begun demo yet, so my quarter round is still there. So just above the quarter round from the wall to the bottom of the cabinet is 122 inches (roughly).
By the way, my 10 boards measure out to 74 5/8 inches (without including the tongue nor the groove).
Please see attached (much earlier picture).
With that additional background info, how best do I approach establishing the reference line(s) assuming that ideally we don’t want to have to wrap plank around either of the laundry nor pantry door ways? Or does this additional info prompt a different approach?
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(Newbie question.) In light of the manufacturer (Costco/Mohawk) recommending a moisture test. (Moisture levels of concrete slabs before, during and after installation must be ≤ 8 lbs/1000ft2/24-hr using an anhydrous calcium chloride test
according to ASTM F1869, and pH must be between 5.0 and 9.0; or, if using ASTM F2170 in-situ probes, relative humidity should be less than
90%. Always measure, record, and retain your testing results) What is your rule of thumb on this test? Is there a rule of thumb on possibly temporarily “shipping off pets” between taking up the carpet, doing prep with Ardex Feather Finish at least between the living room and kitchen, and exposing the bare concrete, and completing this project?-
As an installer I come in your house and take a quick moisture test and then determine if it is satisfactory, that’s it. I don’t keep records of this anywhere unless it is high.
As far as pets go, when you are working on this you might want to lock them up for the day. If you are doing prep, I promise you they will walk on it if they are not locked up.
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Hi Joe,
In your first video to me you mentioned floating between the living room and eat-in kitchen. I took some pictures and couldn’t tell any height difference between the would be living room Quiet Walk and the eat-in kitchen vinyl sheet flooring. I assume the float maybe difference if I was going to Quiet Walk all areas? Should I seam the vinyl sheet flooring and the Quiet Walk as pictured? Otherwise, how would this “work together” with the float/Ardex, Quiet Walk, and/or vinyl sheet flooring by just Quiet Walking the living room?
Secondly, is it normal to have adhesive residue? Or must it all be removed? I can feel ridges to the touch, yet with a level on top, things “look” level. I was using a scraper? Do you advise that I possibly use Pro Power Goo Gone (that I just bought)?
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My largest hole created underneath the vinyl sheet flooring is 1/4 deep roughly, 3 in wide, 2.5 in long. This isn’t what you refer to as a “divet”. Right?
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I went around with a 10′ 2×4 (as my makeshift level) and noticed a couple of areas that seemed to be barely within the flatness requirement of “the maximum difference between two high points
and the intermediate low point is ¼” in a 10′ radius”. I suppose its ok to skip these areas. Thus, it looks as my floor prep could potentially be limited to filling the aforementioned divets that remained from taking up the carpet transition piece between the living room and eat-in kitchen. While I’m doing that, I may as will get the larger divets where I also pulled up the tack strips from the wall. The larger two or three divets along the edge of the wall are roughly the same aforementioned size. I’ve never used ay kind of floor filler before (thus the hesitation). If that’s all to my floor prep potentially, should I use the Ardex? Or would the premixed solution from Lowes’ or Home Depot do the trick? If I did go forth with the Ardex and/or a premixed solution: 1) As a start how much Ardex to mix for these max 5 divets? 2) How long should I allow for the mix to dry before (either testing for hardness and/or) laying plank on top of these filled in divets?
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