Not at this point in the game. It appears that to go backwards, it could cost even more.

Maybe, but a concern for me would be the particle board's reaction to all that moisture from the leveling compound. It could have caused it to swell up considerably.
The ONLY rational I can think of is that the subfloor was WAY out of level. Not just, not flat but WAY off. I have done a couple this year that were so far off I wished I had been doing a glue down so I could float the whole thing with a leveling compound. The rational of the plywood first appears to be, not to allow the leveler to flow through the cracks in the subfloor. The rational of the leveler over the plywood appears to be that the structure was WAY out of flat and level. So, this is one way to do it. Not the most cost effective for sure but perhaps the best way THIS installer knew to do it.

The reasons you list Gary are more or less the reasons I was given.

The floor was WAY off. I was there with the installer when he was checking it after the particle board had been pulled up. We're talking peak, value, peak, value in a 6 foot run.

It was more than an inch off level in a lot of spots.

I spoke with the crew some more yesterday and they claim that given how out of whack our floor was that doing it this way will result in a better floor.

They said this technique is fairly new in the US but been used for +15 in Europe. Which by the way, almost seems like a red herring. I don't know the number of times that I've heard that used as a bogus justification. Tankless water heaters, Dietra, etc. I've got nothing against Europe but too many times this phrase seems to be used a justification for something that costs more.

Man does that Sika primer MB stink!

This is what I suspected. From the pics, it appears the crew do know what they are doing and the work appears to being performed in a conciencious manner. Therefore, I had to guess that the method employed was for a good reason.

More and more manufacturer's are jumping on the solid glue down boat. Realize that in Europe, wood usually costs more so most new construction utlizes very little wood; it's mostly concrete and steel. So they are used to installing over concrete slab floors. Been that way for many years. Floating floors were developed in Europe and they do either usually glue or float their floors. We in the Americas and in Australia have huge resources of forests still and use lumber in the framing much more and consequently, have more experience in nailing down floors. But most installers will tell you, they charge more today, to glue down than to nail down a floor. And in nailing, the attachment is permanent. With glue, who really knows how long that bond will last. 15 yrs? 20 yrs? 30yrs? So, whenever possible, I prefer to nail/staple a floor down. (I also really HATE cleaning the glue smudges from the flooring )

If it is anything like the SikaBond T55, I bet it does stink!!!


That stuff will burn your eyes and take your breath away, while getting high as a kite.

I suggest a resperator!!!!

as to the europeans way of doing things they have been around alot longer than this country and they are consummate craftsman.

Ditra is the best thing since sliced bread. Take that to the bank!
no more hardie backer for this guy.

I agree about the Ditra, been using that for the last 4 years.

Maybe 1x6 planks flex to much , But why would they put lvler on top of the ply wood , It would be easier to use a straight edge and shim the low spots then nail down the ply, Im Confused LOL

This would be true if the low spots where not too far off. But what if you had a subfloor that dropped off 1&1/2" in five feet? Since the beginning of this year, I have had three jobs where the subfloors were so bad I had to add lots of new underlayment (furring it up), sand subfloors and new underlayment, and it still wasn't spot on. I would have PREFERED to use a leveler but could not because to raise the subfloors to the prefered and desired level, it would have played havoc with the transitions to the other adjoining floors, carpet and tile. I had to compromise and make the best of a BAD situation. We pros need to take EVERYTHING into consideration when performing repairs to subfloors and not one way is always prefered over another.

well yaaaa In your situation Leveler is not the answer.

We had a GC rebuild a 100 year old house and he wanted wood floor to go from the diningroom into the entryway though a 5 foot opening, But the dining room was 1/2 inch lower. We asked him to lift the new subfloor off the joists and fur the floor up to the lvl of the entry.

It worked out in the end.

Floors are finished.
http://gstaff.org/floors/img-1.jpg
http://gstaff.org/floors/img-2.jpg
http://gstaff.org/floors/img-3.jpg

Overall I'm pleased with how they turned out, although I have found a couple of spots that squeak/flex a bit. We'll see how successful I am at getting the installer to address.

The final bill ended up being 79% more than the original estimate. Sigh..

The job required 51 bags of PFU leveler + 34 sheets of 1/4 plywood.

Chris,

The good thing about all this is........... The company you hired were diligent regarding prepping your subfloors for level. How many times do we hear on this board about "pros" who did no prep? And now the floors are having problems. Quite a bit!
That you are overall pleased with the result is also very important. May you have many years of trouble free enjoyment from your new floors!

Was this floor by chance below grade? Basement? Will this work in that situation? We get plenty of requests for below grade and basement work and it seems to be happening more and more. I'm not as schooled as I need to be in this area. Any recommendations to help us save our customers the cost of building a subfloor in a basement. Thanks in advance.
Will