Showerthought: Heard a guy at the supply house say 'a good floor hides the subfloor, a great floor fixes it'

I was grabbing adhesive in Tacoma yesterday and overheard two guys arguing about prep. One insisted you can float out any problem with enough leveler, and the other said if the subfloor's junk, you walk away. It got me thinking... I've spent whole days grinding concrete for a perfect plane. But is that always the right call, or are we sometimes overcorrecting for problems that a good underlayment could handle? Where do you draw the line on subfloor repair?

3 comments

3 Comments

spencer_coleman9d ago

Honestly, that whole debate sounds like guys trying to sound smart. Most floors aren't that bad. I've seen people tear out a perfectly fine subfloor over a 1/4 inch dip in a corner nobody will ever see. A lot of the time you're just making work for yourself. Good underlayment exists for a reason. If it's truly rotten or moving, sure, fix it. But chasing perfection is a waste of money and time.

skyler_jackson279d ago

Ever feel like we're just overthinking to avoid doing the actual work? I've definitely spent an hour fixing a squeak that only I could hear.

vera_robinson369d ago

So what's the actual line for you then? Like if a dip is big enough to feel when you walk over it, but the subfloor is still solid, do you still just slap underlayment over it and call it good? I'd worry the new floor would follow that dip over time and feel weird.

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