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Bob Riefer
05-16-2011, 11:30 AM
Well, when we redid our kitchen recently, we had new vinyl flooring installed. So that the entry into our home and kitchen would transition nicely, I had to build up the entry way very slightly... by exactly the thickness of a sheet of luan to be precise.

The entry was concrete slab with ceramic tiles. VERY difficult to remove the tiles, and since I was building UP (not needing to remove material) they stayed.

I used construction adhesive to hold the luan in place. This has worked nicely in the entry way except for 1 area about the size of a pizza pie. In that area, it seems the concrete/tile area was not level (silly me for not checking!) and now there's an audible "pop" each time you step there. And teh luan is warping upward more and more each week (whereas all the other luan that was securely glued down is holding firm) It's driving me batty.

Since my vinyl floor is of the floating variety, I can roll back that section and apply a fix.

Do you think... simply re-do what I did the first time, but level the dip spot first. (i.e. the air pocket allowed the warping to occur, so removing the air pocket will eliminate the problem)

Or, some other solution?

Lee Schierer
05-16-2011, 1:13 PM
I'm not a fan of construction adhesive. In my experience it doesn't have long life. Can you drill through the tiles into the concrete and install flat head cement board screws through the luan under layment into the concrete pad? These are the type I'm thinking of. http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/flooring/tile/prep1/fltpa27a.jpghttp://lh4.googleusercontent.com/public/AGILF5Yt0jklOXLRCoWUdLfW2UYMKzqQYJPXHjcOPJKE1dojTe U1Q-vC4VCAVYjuiHsSz03ZTgtjwliRFDMgC-gx4bmLoKaOp6oyrwbb3fxmJWqjHsLv_shVm77uLyRGGzOh4Kv9 vIUu0S657L7kTsNFHDSQN1f-mAQ_LhvuO2yHfc495AM4Nrrla6CKLQZV252Idwa8y3H3xX3nQ8 P10x_pMxUThe back of the flat head is serrated so it will cut its own countersink.

Bob Riefer
05-16-2011, 1:30 PM
Hey Lee,
That's definitely worth a shot, I hadn't even considered that actually. All the concrete screws that I had in my memory file (often times called "the sieve" by those that know me well) had a very high profile head. If I can hit the grout line of the underlying ceramic tiles, it should be possible to get a few of these set.

(and I agree... adhesive is no good when used all by itself, I wish I'd thought of these types of screws while doing the original work!)

Lee Schierer
05-16-2011, 3:36 PM
Since grout lines are going to be regularly spaced, if you find one you should be able to find them all.