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Replacing subfloor in '40s house

1K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  JazMan 
#1 ·
My other half & I have moved into, a late '40s house that needs a LOT of love having been neglected. Right now we are replacing the tile & subfloor of an addition that was put in about late '80s which doubles as a laundry area / kitchen dining. The floor failed in front of the washer/dryer,presumably from a washer leak but can be anybody's guess, so we took it up to see how bad & how far the damage went, which turns out to be a bit over 4' X 8'. There is a concrete slab, but the supports underneath the plywood were 2 X 2's through which were concrete spikes. It was all rotted of course, don't think any of it was treated wood. The 2 X 2's were about the correct size to match up the addition with the rest of the old house slab. My questions are #1: shouldn't we replace the plywood supports with at least treated 2 X 4's on their sides to support weight better & is it necessary to shoot spikes into the concrete slab, also, should we use a better grade of plywood or thicker than 1/2 "? Thanks for any help!
 
#2 ·
I'm having a hard time understanding exactly what you have. Can you post pics?

And.....welcome to DIYchatroom....

It helps to put your location in...some answers depend on where you live....and it's a bit easier to read your posts if you use paragraphs.

To answer one question....yes, pressure treated wood only to touch the concrete.
 
#4 · (Edited)
subfloor laundry / kitchen

Subfloor sunk in front of washer / dryer, we removed most, finding untreated 2 X 2's as supports under regular 1/2 " plywood. All the wood was rotted. Also found concrete spikes through 2 X 2's. (This is an addition put in the late '80s. See my album for pics from my cell phone )

Measured 2 3/4 " from addition's concrete slab to be able to be level with the original house's floor.

Question # 1: How should new pressure treated supports be put in to support the weight of the appliances, on edge or laying down & should they be 2 X 4 or 2 X 6
?

#2: Is it necessary to get a Hilti gun & shoot nails thru the supports into the slab?

#3: What type & thickness of plywood should we use?

#4: I am used to sheet linoleum as the top flooring in a laundry area with no problems, would peel & stick vinyl tiles be sufficient or does it need to be something else?


 
#5 ·
The way that floor was done is all wrong, as you now know. If you rebuild it in a similar way I think you'l have the same problem down the road. Unless your slab is suspended off the ground, there will always be a certain amount of moisture coming up through it. If the moisture is too much it'l be trapped by the floor you've installed over it and you can be sure the wood will first distort and then rot. In addition moisture may have been added from above through normal use from washing or spills. A floor like that will always fail, guaranteed.

If you want to fix this once, you should have someone come in and place deck mud over the slab to the desired level and then install the tiles.

Jaz
 
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