Hello experts, this is my 1st post here. The issue I am interested in is how to address this situation. It is a condo that appears to have gypcrete floors. There was carpet on some of the flooring and ceramic tile over the rest. Under the carpet, looks fine. When the tile was pulled, there was Schluter membrane over the gypcrete. How would someone prep this surface to be able to glue down new engineered HW flooring over all of the condo floor space? See attached pic. In the foreground is where the carpet used to be. The mess in the middle is where the tile was and then in the background it is smooth again where more carpet was. The entire area is going to be HW floors now. I was just curious as to if any one you have dealt with this and how it is handled? I hope you can view this pic. I was not able to insert it as an image for some reason.
Thanks, James

https://ibb.co/2NFgf1F

So you need to get a hold of a concrete finishing/levelling contractor and they will grind down the rough patch and then apply a self levelling skim coat to bring everything flat again. You need a very flat subfloor for a successful glue down hardwood installation (1/8th over 10ft). Be sure to tell they you are looking for that tolerance specifically. Might cost 1$-1.50$ per SQFT depending on where you are.

WestonKris, thanks for the reply! Now at least I know it is possible.
So if that process is done, how long does the skimcoat have to cure before HW can be glued down?
--James

Not long - 12-24 hours would be my recommendation.

Oh thank goodness. I was hoping you were not going to say 1-2 weeks.

You could float a floor over the rough area. Build up the adjacent area so everything is flat, first.