Anatomy of a simple vinyl floor repair
A common area of dry rot and water damage in the home is the bathroom floor. This sort of damage may seem to be a costly endeavor, but it may be quite simple for someone with experience in floor repair. Let’s look at what is involved in replacing a floor in the bathroom.
Before any tearing up of the flooring, the room needs to be taken apart a little bit. The toilet has to be removed and set aside until the flooring is complete. I prefer to drop it in a large garbage bag to prevent the water in the bowl from spilling out. It is convenient to place it in the tub.
If baseboards are used they can be removed and saved. In some cases the vanity, sink, and counter should be pulled out and set aside. Once this has been done the fun can begin, the vinyl flooring can be removed.
The vinyl flooring will usually be laid on some underlayment; particle board is the most frequently used building material that I’ve seen. I like to cut through the flooring and particle board with a circular saw set to the depth of the underlayment. After doing this the flooring can be pried up in smaller sections, making for quicker demolition time.
The subflooring is now exposed, if there is no damage to the subflooring, the floor can now be rebuilt. Often times, the damage may extend into the subfloor, adjacent rooms, and under the tub. We did not find that in the illustrated bathroom.
At this point we can start to put the bathroom floor back together. We used new ½” particle board with minimal seams. With a pneumatic gun we shoot small staples into the cut sheets that now cover the entire area. We choose to fill all the small staples and seams to create a smooth surface throughout the room. We are ready for the flooring.
Applying a continuous layer of adhesive allows us the lay the sheet vinyl flooring. After getting this trimmed up and worked into its final position, we can bring back all the things we removed earlier. These are going to be the final touches to this project, so great care will be used to make sure that we have patched, caulked, and cleaned up the area of construction.
We like to think that the room will never look better than when we leave.
Need help with your bathroom floor?
Tromler Construction
916-765-5366
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