v00d00child Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Hey everyone, I'm a noob to the handyman forum, as I usually just neglect a house until near-collapse, then move... Bought a house in CO back in November. It's just a little breadloaf with a walk out basement & garage. I noticed there was some water staining on the garage door when I bought the place (garage door is painted metal), but I felt the inspector was very thorough & didn't say anything about it. Not long after I moved in, winter hit, and I was busy unpacking, so I never got around to looking into the water/garage door thing. (the garage door is below the kitchen) Once I did trace the leak back, I found it was a freaking o-ring on the dishwasher that gave up. It was just barely a trickle, but 24/7 for who knows how long has now warped my pergo (or something similar) wood kitchen floor. My question: before ripping this stuff out, am I going to have to replace the sub-floor also? Or does the top flooring usually sponge water up? I'm really good at starting things, not so good at finishing things, and if this is gonna be a tear-it-back-to-joists deal, well it's gonna be awhile... I live about 5 minutes from the Hayman burn area of '02, so I'm lucky to get ANYONE to give me homeowner's insurance. I considered turning a claim in, but remembered that I had to fight tooth & nail to get ins, due to a claim I'd made on a previous house 4 years prior. Thoughts? TIA chad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N1K Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 No way to know without looking at it. Can you see the subfloor from the basement between the joists? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 I'd wager that the subfloor is toast. But that's ok. It's only 2 inch 4x8's or something close. So it's not a big deal replacing. Lift the current covering and see what's under it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v00d00child Posted July 20, 2004 Author Share Posted July 20, 2004 OK, now you've got me scared. I was just talking about the 5/8" ash plywood subfloor, nothing beneath that. My fear about pulling the current stuff up is this: the previous owners half-assed EVERYTHING they did (and they did the kitchen floor). Only the area near the dishwasher/sink feels noticeably warped. I noticed when I replaced the water heater last month that there was a layer of funky linoleum. If I only need to replace a small area and there's funky linoleum under the whole kitchen, I'm gonna hafta put a new layer of funkoleum down so the whole thing's level. Maybe I'll hafta hold out for a good old fashioned forest fire to right this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbird Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Subfloor should be 3/4" ply, if it's 5/8" somebody cut some corners building the place. Do your floors squeak alot? Either way, that's beside the point- you start pulling stuff up and it can get complicated kinda fast. To replace a section of subfloor you'll need to get to the nearest joists, which may be under a wall, and are likely under your cabinets in a kitchen situation. If you can't get to them, you'll have to do some framing from underneath to support the section you replace and the edges of what you cut out. The linoleum will honestly be a small problem in the long run. I hate repairing subfloors, especially in kitchens and bathrooms, which is of course where they always need it. Probably not what you wanted to hear, but there you go :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v00d00child Posted July 21, 2004 Author Share Posted July 21, 2004 Probably not what you wanted to hear, but there you go :sad: LA LA LA LA LA LA LA (fingers in ears) Maybe I'll just rent a floor sander & take out the high spots... thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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