Floating floors — LVP, engineered hardwood, laminate — are unforgiving of subfloor imperfections. Humps, dips, and waves telegraph through to the surface. We assess the subfloor before any new floor goes down, and level it when it needs it. Available as part of a full installation or as a standalone service.
We look at what's under your current floor — concrete, plywood, old vinyl — and tell you exactly what needs to happen before new flooring goes down.
One call from Bryon within 24 hours.
Bryon will call within 24 hours to schedule your assessment.
Most installation problems — hollow sounds underfoot, cracked joints, planks that flex when you walk on them — trace back to subfloor prep that was skipped or rushed. Floor leveling is the work that happens before a single plank goes down.
Low spots in concrete or plywood subfloors are filled with self-leveling compound that flows out to a flat, hard surface. The standard for concrete slab prep before LVP or hardwood installation.
Humps and ridges are ground down until the surface is within the manufacturer's specified tolerance — typically 3/16 inch over 10 feet for floating floors. Not something that can be skipped and covered.
Squeaky floors are usually loose plywood panels flexing against each other or against joists. Additional screws or ring-shank nails driven through the subfloor eliminate the squeak before new flooring goes over it.
Before any wood-based floor goes over concrete — engineered hardwood or wood-look LVP — the slab moisture level is tested. If moisture is present, a barrier goes down first. Skip this and the floor warps.
These are the most common symptoms of subfloor problems — and the ones most likely to cause new flooring to fail if they're not addressed before installation.
A squeaky floor under existing flooring almost always means loose subfloor panels. New flooring installed over a squeaky subfloor is still a squeaky floor. Fix it first.
If your current LVP is showing visible waves, dips, or areas that feel hollow underfoot, those problems came from the subfloor and will recur with new flooring installed over the same surface.
High spots in a concrete slab or plywood subfloor are often caused by dried adhesive ridges, old tile edges, or fastener heads proud of the surface. Floating floors crossing a hump crack at the joints.
If a recently installed floating floor sounds hollow, flexes when you step on it, or has developed gapping at the joints, the subfloor was not adequately prepped. Floor leveling can sometimes be done without removing the new floor — but often the floor has to come up first.
Walk the room, check for high and low spots, test concrete for moisture, look for loose panels and squeaks. You get an honest report on what's there and what it takes to fix it.
Flat surface materials, labor, and timeline. If floor leveling is part of a larger flooring installation, it's included as a line item — not a surprise on day one.
Compound poured, high spots ground, panels secured, moisture barrier installed if needed. The new floor goes down on a surface that's actually ready for it.
Floor leveling in Amherst's Northpointe Estates, Deerfield Estates, and Sandstone Mill builds most often comes up during LVP installations — vinyl plank requires a flat subfloor to manufacturer spec, and even the 2000s-era OSB subfloors can have enough variation from settling to matter. The open floor plans in these colonials also create a common scenario: original builder flooring used three different materials in one connected space — vinyl in the kitchen, laminate in the dining area, carpet in the living room. Running one material through the whole area requires reconciling those heights first. Build-up is sometimes the better call than grinding down.
We come to your amherst home, walk the floor, assess the subfloor, and tell you exactly what needs to happen before new flooring goes down. No charge for the assessment.
Bryon Skvor · (440) 252-1053 · bryon@remodel.guide
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