Substrate Preparation
“Vapor Barriers: Nuisance or Necessity?”
In recent weeks we here at Dependable had Peter Craig, a renowned concrete floor specialist come in and educate the team on moisture mitigation. We hear a lot about the issue and what a serious costly concern it is in the industry. Over the next few months we will be sharing articles from Peter Craig…
Read More“Underlayments solve many problems”
“There doesn’t appear to be an industry definition for the category of “underlayments,” but this grouping can easily include products such as backer board, liquid and sheet membranes, uncoupling membranes, mortar beds, patching compounds and self-leveling products. No matter which products are being used on a project, the floor or wall surface must be flattened…
Read More“Subfloor Preparation Problems, Part 1: Asbestos, Cutback and Moisture Concerns
“Subfloor preparation is quite possibly the most important step – the foundational, starting step –of any installation, yet it’s also often performed incorrectly or not done at all. As we here at FCI hear time and time again, “The flooring is only as good as what’s beneath it,” and that extends to the subfloor and how it…
Read More“Q&As: Janka Explained, Self-Leveling Underlayment, & Testing Slabs”
“…Can I pour a self-leveling underlayment over an existing ceramic floor and then glue down a wood floor over it?” “…Yes, there are new products on the market today that can be poured directly over just about any type of subfloor, including rubber, VCT, vinyl, ceramic, cut-back adhesive, gypsum concrete, plywood, OSB and more.…
Read More“Reflecting on FCI and the Industry”
“I began installing in 1976. I started in carpet, then when the economy slowed in the ‘80s, I decided to expand into other flooring categories. I went to as many training seminars as I could, and on-the-job training for tile, hardwood, and resilient vinyl. I remember when Floor Covering Installer first came out and thought,…
Read More“Underlayments — So Many Choices”
“The extremely fast-paced schedules of today’s jobsites demand products that can fix floor surfaces quickly, efficiently and in a cost-effective fashion. These surface coatings are sometimes called on to correct extreme variations in plane — while drying quickly and ready to receive tile in short order. Self-levelers or SLUs, as they are known, meet these…
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