My wake-up call on underlayment came from a squeaky floor in a Denver condo

For years, I'd just roll out the foam underlayment and go, thinking the pad would handle any subfloor noise. Then I did a condo remodel in Denver where the owner called me back a week later because the new LVP was popping and squeaking over the old plank subfloor. The issue was I never checked for flatness or used a leveling compound on the high spots. Now I debate with myself: is it always worth the extra hour and $50 in compound to skim coat, or only on really bad floors? What's your cutoff for when a subfloor needs leveling?

2 comments

2 Comments

price.logan9d ago

I used to skip that step too, but a squeaky floor taught me the hard way. Now I level anything with a dip deeper than a quarter over ten feet.

the_sam9d ago

My cutoff is a dime over three feet. If a floor dips more than that, the locking system on most LVP just can't bridge the gap without stress. I'll mix a small batch of patch just for those low spots instead of skimming the whole room.