leveling floor for peel and stick tile

Truckerswife · 03-24-2011, 07:17 PM

Hello everyone. I am thrilled to have found this forum. My husband is a trucker and gone a lot so I end up working on our home myself and once in awhile find myself in a pickle of sorts. Our house is an old hunting cabin that we are fixing up to make liveable for a few years till we move on. I am getting ready to start a flooring project next week but I am at a bit of a loss. I removed the nasty carpet and have found that the floor underneath is OSB (several layers of it). There are gaps as much as 1/4 inch between where the sheets of OSB should be butted up against one another. In addition to that the floor is wavy. The difference is at the most 1/2 inch over a 6 foot section. There is no basement. The house is built basically on the ground on one end and on block on the other end. From the ground end to the block end it's up about 2.5 feet. I am working on the section that is nearly in the center of the house. This area would be at most 1 ft off the ground. I really do not want to pull up all the layers of OSB. I know that we have a possum problem as I am constantly trapping and toting off possums from under the house. It would be a nightmare to open that floor and find a lot of possums who could then come into the house. I did the back bedroom with peel and stick wood looking flooring and it turned out great however this portion of the house didn't have the wave issue so I just laid down 1/4 inch plywood first. I want to continue that same tile throughout the rest of the house. How do I fix the wavy floors without pulling up the flooring to check out the main structure?

Thanks

JamesWW · 03-24-2011, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Truckerswife

Hello everyone. I am thrilled to have found this forum. My husband is a trucker and gone a lot so I end up working on our home myself and once in awhile find myself in a pickle of sorts. Our house is an old hunting cabin that we are fixing up to make liveable for a few years till we move on. I am getting ready to start a flooring project next week but I am at a bit of a loss. I removed the nasty carpet and have found that the floor underneath is OSB (several layers of it). There are gaps as much as 1/4 inch between where the sheets of OSB should be butted up against one another. In addition to that the floor is wavy. The difference is at the most 1/2 inch over a 6 foot section. There is no basement. The house is built basically on the ground on one end and on block on the other end. From the ground end to the block end it's up about 2.5 feet. I am working on the section that is nearly in the center of the house. This area would be at most 1 ft off the ground. I really do not want to pull up all the layers of OSB. I know that we have a possum problem as I am constantly trapping and toting off possums from under the house. It would be a nightmare to open that floor and find a lot of possums who could then come into the house. I did the back bedroom with peel and stick wood looking flooring and it turned out great however this portion of the house didn't have the wave issue so I just laid down 1/4 inch plywood first. I want to continue that same tile throughout the rest of the house. How do I fix the wavy floors without pulling up the flooring to check out the main structure?

Thanks

Well about the best I can tell you is that you may want to check the structure for its integrity. If you are dead set against it, driving screws down into the floor to level it out can work, but i'd advise against it without checking the structure out. Being an old hunting cabin, you may have more than a possum problem, the possum could be eating the termites. Just a thought. Good luck.

Bud Cline · 03-24-2011, 09:57 PM

Why is the floor wavy?

Is it because the floor joists are also wavy or is it because the OSB is degrading and buckling from moisture over time. Gotta know WHY before a fix can be suggested.

Truckerswife · 03-24-2011, 10:05 PM

Thanks for the replies.

James...I don't think driving screws down in the floor is going to help because the high points feel very solid but the low points have give in them if I bounce on them. I'm fairly certain I can't pull the high places down. It seems to be the low places that are the problem.

Bud...I don't really know the answer to your question. The high spots are very firm. No movement on them at all. The low spots though while they don't appear wet do have give to them. I can see for sure that there is at minimum 4 layers of OSB (could be plywood in lower layers) in this one portion of the house. I should also mention that the area I am having the wavy issue with is where this house used to end. It was originally just two rooms and it was added onto. The area that would have been the original wall is where it feels very soft and the floor is lower there.

Bud Cline · 03-24-2011, 11:09 PM

Quote:

The area that would have been the original wall is where it feels very soft and the floor is lower there.

That could be a sign that the rafter/joist-ends have fallen maybe from rot, or the foundation (whatever it may be) is giving up at that point.

No way to know without rubbing noses with the opossums.

Truckerswife · 03-25-2011, 07:59 AM

Thanks, that's what I was afraid you were gonna say. Guess it's me and the possums. ugh!