I gutted the kitchen in a condo unit I own. I've put up new drywall, and am now ready to tackle the floor.
The old finished floor was taken up, so I'm now down to the 5/8" plywood subfloor.
The floor squeaks. I plan on lifting up the plywood where I can (it's currently nailed), put down Loctite's PL 400 subfloor glue on the joists, and then re-laying the old plywood back in place, screwing it to the joists. I'd like to put down new plywood, but the ends of most of the sheets run under walls, so I plan on just lifting the "free end" and putting subfloor glue where I can. I'm not too worried about re-using the old plywood because despite the plywood being down for 50+ years, it seems pretty solid. (On the other hand, if someone thinks differently, please let me know!)
When I screw the subfloor to the joists, I plan on using 1-5/8" general purpose exterior screws. I'm planning on screwing these every foot, and screwing them into each joist under the plywood. Is this correct? Should I use deck screws rather than the general purpose exterior screws? Longer or shorter screws?
Over the subfloor, I plan on putting 3/4" T&G plywood. I understand that I should NOT screw this into the joists, but rather into the "field" of the underlying plywood subfloor (and NO glue over top of the subfloor). Do I screw this in using the same pattern as that used for ceramic tile floors, i.e., every 4" along the edges and every 6" within the field? Do I glue the tongue and groove joints? Do I allow 1/8" separation between the plywood pieces (including where the tongue and groove come together), in order to allow for expansion?
Finally, I'm going to go over the 3/4" T&G plywood with a floating vinyl sheet. Do I need to fill in the screw holes and where the sheets meet (which kinda kills leaving a gap for expansion)? Do I need to tape the plywood seams? If so, what kind of tape and what kind of adhesive?
Did I miss anything?!?
Your help is greatly appreciated!
Richard
The old finished floor was taken up, so I'm now down to the 5/8" plywood subfloor.
The floor squeaks. I plan on lifting up the plywood where I can (it's currently nailed), put down Loctite's PL 400 subfloor glue on the joists, and then re-laying the old plywood back in place, screwing it to the joists. I'd like to put down new plywood, but the ends of most of the sheets run under walls, so I plan on just lifting the "free end" and putting subfloor glue where I can. I'm not too worried about re-using the old plywood because despite the plywood being down for 50+ years, it seems pretty solid. (On the other hand, if someone thinks differently, please let me know!)
When I screw the subfloor to the joists, I plan on using 1-5/8" general purpose exterior screws. I'm planning on screwing these every foot, and screwing them into each joist under the plywood. Is this correct? Should I use deck screws rather than the general purpose exterior screws? Longer or shorter screws?
Over the subfloor, I plan on putting 3/4" T&G plywood. I understand that I should NOT screw this into the joists, but rather into the "field" of the underlying plywood subfloor (and NO glue over top of the subfloor). Do I screw this in using the same pattern as that used for ceramic tile floors, i.e., every 4" along the edges and every 6" within the field? Do I glue the tongue and groove joints? Do I allow 1/8" separation between the plywood pieces (including where the tongue and groove come together), in order to allow for expansion?
Finally, I'm going to go over the 3/4" T&G plywood with a floating vinyl sheet. Do I need to fill in the screw holes and where the sheets meet (which kinda kills leaving a gap for expansion)? Do I need to tape the plywood seams? If so, what kind of tape and what kind of adhesive?
Did I miss anything?!?
Your help is greatly appreciated!
Richard