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jan_stovall

What product should I use for my uneven kitchen floor?

Jan Stovall
10 years ago
I'm almost finished with a kitchen renovation and am struggling with decisions about the flooring. My house is a Craftsman built in 1918. There was an addition to the original kitchen decades ago and settling occurred, causing an uneven floor. Initially I wanted to install marmoleum, but was told that the sheet installation is tricky and would show every flaw. Instead, I was told I could use "click" marmoleum (or cork, which I was also considering). When I went to another flooring store they insisted that a floating floor could not be used because it would buckle. Complicating the situation is the fact that my contractor did not remove the existing vinyl floor, which consists of a few layers of vinyl and linoleum. Also, there are built-in cabinets in the rear of the kitchen from the 40's which I want to preserve, and they're in an area that would require heightening the floor in order to level it. I don't really want to disturb them because they're lovely, and they're an integral part of the kitchen.

Because of its flexible nature, I think my only solution is to use vinyl, which I was trying to avoid. Ugh! Most of it looks like an imitation of wood or stone, and if I can't use the real thing, I don't really want fake. Also, there seem to be very few varieties of color in vinyl - it's all beige or gray tone, very neutral. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but my new kitchen is turning out to be fairly monochromatic. I have white cabinets, black/green soapstone countertops, green/gray glass blacksplash tiles, and sage paint on the walls. I need a dash of color! There was a wonderful red marmoleum that would've made the kitchen sing! Alas, no such thing seems to exist in vinyl. If anyone has suggestions, please offer some advice! I had no idea choosing a floor would be this difficult. In retrospect maybe I should've chosen it before anything else...

Comments (5)

  • PRO
    Advent Home Solutions
    10 years ago
    I realize this is not what you want to hear, but really levelling the floor should have been one of the first things your contractor tackled before anything else. How far out of whack are we talking ... inches or a small fraction of an inch? Any finished flooring product is going to look bad if you do not first resolve the issues with the existing floor not being level unless it's a very gradual slope with no actual wave in the surface. I doubt any supplier or installer is going to give you any sort of guarantee until the subfloor is fixed as this is just asking for issues down the line.
    Jan Stovall thanked Advent Home Solutions
  • PRO
    Torch Lake Glass
    10 years ago
    When we moved into an 1854 home in Northern MIchigan, the kitchen was the first thing that we tackled.

    There was 1970's sheet linoleum installed over old-school (probably asbestos) tiles that were glued down by some kind of adhesive/tar over a wood floor that was made of maple. An added breakfast nook had oak flooring. There was a slight difference in the heights of the flooring due to settling, etc. but not enough to trip over when walking room to room.

    Rather than tearing out the existing floors or adding more layers, we stripped everything off of the wood floors and refinished them.

    We were dealing with pressed tin siding on the walls and ceiling of the breakfast nook and wanted to preserve that above all else. It went all of the way down to the southern yellow pine baseboards and then stopped. We did not want to even think about ruining the tin by removing the baseboards or having the ornate design cut off at the bottom of the wall.

    Unless you plan to re-model your house from the stud walls out, you will probably learn to live with the irregular floor in a very short time provided that it is not going to trip someone. Nothing is ever perfect in these old monsters, but that is part of the package.

    Another idea, if you can cut out just part of the floor and replace it with either a tile or wood mosaic piece that transitions, that would be very cool and add a unique custom detail.

    good luck with your project!
    Jan Stovall thanked Torch Lake Glass
  • Jan Stovall
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    My contractor didn't want to deal with the floor because he wasn't familiar with marmoleum, and said he could only help me if I chose tile. I love the look, but it's not the surface for me. I want something that isn't so cold and hard.

    It's a gradual slope, with a slight little incline in one area. A marble would roll down it - but it isn't too, too noticeable visually. Or maybe I'm just accustomed to it, since I've been living in the house for 14 years. I was shocked when the measurements were taken, though, and I was told there's a 3 inch difference in the front and back of the kitchen!
  • PRO
    Advent Home Solutions
    10 years ago
    I've worked on (as in terms of installing slate tile) a brand new custom home under construction where the kitchen floor was over 2" off level from one end to the other (over about a 15' distance). That's bad for any age, let alone still being built ... home owner did much of the framing himself. The cabinet installer was using a lot of bad words ;-) Your contractor could probably self level at least some of it to take out part of the height difference as long as there is not something like a dishwasher that needs to scoot under the 1940's cabinets/counter. It is one thing the floor having a height difference from one end to the other (not uncommon) but if there are bumps and hollows and dimples all over then that is more of an issue. I am assuming you will strip out the existing flooring ... but beware that up until the early 1990's asbestos was still being used in the backer of some linoleum flooring in North America. If this is a possibility and the flooring is intact without bubbles or tears then I would leave it in place unless you have the budget to deal with remediation. Asbestos isn't an issue if left undisturbed. You could go over the top with sheet vinyl (if you find something you like the look of) and you already said you don't like tile. Another option would be cork floating tiles (click in place style) ... as long as any change in pitch of the floor is very gradual (no obvious dips/pockets or bows) then you should be good. Cork flooring is warm under foot, but you do need to reseal it every few years and watch for dropping sharp or hot objects.
    Just as an alternative ... tile does not have to be cold, if you install electric radiant in floor heating. Depends if that is in your budget. Now we would be getting more involved.

    Hope this hasn't confused you more ;-)
  • PRO
    Cancork Floor Inc.
    10 years ago
    One thing that I know about multilayer products is this: you are "allowed" 1 layer on top of another (2 floors). After that, all bets are off and anything else you add is going to loose warranty right away. The canter of the floor can be dealt with, waviness + slope = problem. Your floor has a bit of both. A "stick down" product is what you are left with at this juncture.

    A cork glue down floor might be an option...but the layers make the install tricky (as with any stick-down product). A floaitng floor needs a near-perfect flat, smooth and level. This is where the "click together" floors have problems. Both the number of layers AND the waviness/slant of your floor is hindering your progress. You will need to decide on which one to correct so that a floor can be laid.

    If you level the floor = raising joists from below. If you remove layers = asbestos remediation. Without one or the other, you will not be able to do anything other than live with the floors you have OR install roll/sheet vinyl or lino.

    I've managed to glue down cork tiles to a vinyl floor - but it is tricky AND you are only allowed 1 layer of floor (the vinyl surface = the 1 floor layer). This can not work with puff-vinyl; only well adhered vinyl tiles work with this installation. The install is not recommended, it is not warrantied, but it is "doable" with the right technique and the right installer. I would expect you to get 10 years out of it...but you still have to deal with all the other problems the next time you change out the flooring.

    I would choose one of the two options (levelling the floor vs. removing the layers) and get it done. That way you can have some sort of success. Without it you will not be able to find a solution.