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Serious question, has anyone else had a job where the subfloor was just a complete mess?
I started a vinyl plank job in a 1970s house yesterday and found three different types of old tile, a layer of particle board, and a big soft spot. The homeowner looked at me and said, 'Just put the new floor over it.' How do you guys handle a client who doesn't want to pay for the proper prep?
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anthonyrivera2mo ago
Ugh, this is the "good enough" mindset that ruins everything. Like zaranelson said, that floor will fail and it'll be your problem. People just don't get that skipping the hard part now always costs more later.
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zaranelson2mo ago
That soft spot is a future warranty call waiting to happen. Do you really want your name on a floor that fails in six months? Sometimes you just have to walk away.
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Zaranelson is right, because that's how you end up paying to fix it twice.
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blairm772d ago
I worked on a job two years ago where the homeowner talked me into skipping the proper subfloor prep on a tile floor because "you couldn't tell anyway." I knew better, but I let them talk me into it because I needed the work. Sure enough, six months later those tiles started cracking right along the seam where the soft spot was. I had to go back, tear it all up, fix the subfloor the right way, and re-tile the whole thing for free because I felt bad about not standing my ground. That job ended up costing me twice the time and I lost a whole weekend doing a rush fix. So yeah, zaranelson is absolutely right. Sometimes walking away from a job is the best call you can make for your reputation and your sanity.
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