A basement job in Cincinnati taught me to always check the slab twice

I was laying vinyl plank in a finished basement last Tuesday, and about halfway through the first row I hit a soft spot in the concrete. It was a low spot that had been patched with a crumbling filler, maybe an inch deep and two feet wide. I had to stop, chip out all the old filler, and use a full bag of Henry 555 to level it properly before I could go on. Has anyone else run into a hidden patch job like that, and what's your go-to fix?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane_park922mo ago

Ward.jamie's roller trick finds hollow spots before they crack your planks.

smith.parker2mo ago

Yeah that roller trick is smart for finding hollow spots. I've seen guys skip that step and then have to tear up whole sections after the fact. Catching it early with the roller saves so much headache.

ward.jamie2mo ago

Checking the slab twice is good, but you can still miss a bad patch under old glue or paint. I just roll with a heavy floor roller first to find any hollow spots. It saves more time than checking every square inch by hand.