Another poster described it perfectly as I quoted above. Now for the update. After meeting with the project manager and the salesperson we have come to a solution. The top tread has a rise that is 1/2" lower than all the other steps. They did this to allow the carpet and padding to roll over and keep the height within code. The project manager's solution will work. We can remove the top tread and replace it with a tread that is 1/2" thicker. This will make it 1/2" higher than the subfloor on the upstairs landing. This will allow us to use 1/2" flooring that will then be level with the step. The step will not be higher than the rest of the steps since it was made 1/2" lower (for the carpet.) Whew. I hope this makes sense. I am not happy that we will have the carpet over the top tread for a while but I am glad that eventually we can put wood floors in the upstairs landing and connecting hallways. The builder went further to please us. We had eliminated some cabinets from the kitchen above the range because my husband will be building a custome mantle hood. The cabinet company said they would not credit us for the cabinets so today the builder told us THEY are going to credit us $500 for them. Our salesperson also called us today to let us know that they are going to remove two dead trees that are beyond the line of where they clear the lot. The trees are pretty far back so they did not have to do this but wanted to honor our request due to our confusion over the stairs. So all and all I am very pleased with how the situation turned out.

The best way I know to level your floor would be to pour in floor leveler in the low places. Be very careful to pour on just a little at a time, it's easy to get too much. Take a trowel around the edges of the puddle to pull it out to be level with the rest of the floor. It will adhere to the plywood but I don't know if the vinyl will stick to it. You'll have to ask someone who sells it. If it won't stick then you'll have to lay down another layer of 1/4" Luann first. It's cheaper than more plywood and it comes thinner. You can cut it with a jigsaw. I don't know how adventurous you are but I'm a woman and I have already done this, except that I put down Cement Board instead of Luann because I laid down ceramic tile on top of that in my kitchen. It's amazing what you can figure out how to do when you want something bad enough. You can get a video just about anywhere or bring one up online to show you how to do just about anything. God bless

Floating floors with a "click together edge" requires it to keep the floors intact. A floating engineered hardwood is often a glue-edge technique. This is different from a click-together-edge (but some engineered hardwood floors now offer the glueless floating floor option). The click-edges have LIMITED "grab". Once that grab has been exceeded, the floor will rip itself apart at the narrowest point = doorways (point of least resistance). An floating engineered wood floor has glue that holds the planks together. And glue has a much BETTER hold. The glue allows engineered floating hardwoods to run through pinch points and have longer runs. The installation instructions for this particular floor are quite vague....which is a question I have about the instructions. And the floating floor instructions make mention of transitions....but not WHERE or WHY to put them in. Which tells me there is some sort of limitation....but that limitation has been left out by the manufacturer. The problem now for the OP remains: an uneven floor height in a space that is very small, with three different substrates and three different strategies to work them "flat". I would say even a seasoned flooring installer with years of experience would find this area quite challenging. A DIYer is going to have a ton of trouble just to get this area cleaned up and levelled.

Hi Everyone! We were able to purchase our first home and it's 103 years old. I ripped the carpet out upstairs and am slowly uncovering stories of the past. Under the carpet were vinyl tiles (I had them tested for asbestos), then plywood, and then the original pine flooring covered in lead based paint. I was dreaming of installing Marmoleum click but one room is very unlevel and not flat. A contractor told me my house isn't falling down, just old settling, and carpet is the only thing. I really really really don't want to do carpet for many reasons but I also understand I may have to.... Any experience or ideas for leveling without shimming (not lifting those plywood sheets to expose lead paint), not using a self leveling concrete (too many spots?)... Wondering if cork underlay could be layered at the biggest sags and low spots? Thank you!