DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

leveling a floor (half concrete/half wood)?

4K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  Gary in WA 
#1 ·
Ok,
I have a bit of an odd question. I am planning on recovering the floors in my kitchen and den. Now my kitchen is concrete somehow laid over a wood sub-floor (there is basement underneath-not slab) and half of the den is the same (it was originally a porch and a den but was later incorporated into one large den and they added on a sunroom. Right now there is linoleum in both rooms (not matching and in bad shape). I really wanted to have a continuous flooring from the kitchen into the den. There is a bad transition between the wood and concrete and there's sort of a "step down" sloped spot (the concrete section is slightly higher and they attempted to bring the level close..but failed obviously). That would have to be leveled for any sort of non-carpet floor, right?. I can't figure the best way to level this. If it was all wood or all concrete it's be pretty straight forward. I'm guessing I'm stuck with linoleum since it's flexible and wouldn't crack on the weird spot (I'm no pro so I worry about attempting one big piece of linoleum-but I always hear most stick-down tiles don't seem to last). So what on earth can I do here ? Hopefully my description makes some sense :(

I can draw up something quickly if it would help...
 
#3 ·
I'm no flooring expert by any means, but I might (and maybe some others) take a stab at it if you could post some pics. I HAVE leveled some floors, though perhaps not exactly what you're talking about. A drawing might work, but a picture would likely be best.....
 
#4 ·
The wood subfloor and the concrete one expand and contract at different rates and move relative to one another at the joint.

You will see evidence of this through the vinyl floor.

Patching the lower side will help but as the two subfloors move relative to one another, you're going to have times when one side is up a little bit and foot traffic can wear through the vinyl at that spot. Consider putting in a "flat" metal (they're usually slightly beveled, but still called "flat") at the transition.
 
#5 ·
3/4 of both rooms is concrete. Around the cabinets and dishwasher is concrete. In the 1/2 wood den, how many layers of wood is there? Are the floor joists the same plane across the ceiling under the transition area? Is it possible to remove some (1-1/2") of ply or filler at the wood den area, and pour some concrete? How thick is the kitchen concrete,how thick is it at the transition to wood? Maybe bring transition concrete up to level with new (1/2) den? Maybe the 1/2 wood den slopes because it was a sloping porch, and it makes the transition look worse because it's the crown? Be safe, GBAR
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top