I would pull up the layer of plastic under the rock. They put that stuff down thinking weeds won't grow through it, but the dust blows in and the weeds grow on top of it. Unfortunately grass will not grow on top, at least not very well, and not in most of AZ. Need to know where you live, name the town, because it makes a difference if you live in the high desert, low desert, or the mountains. Whether you need soil depends much more on your drainage than anything else. Assuming once you get the plastic up there is some sort of soil substance, that can be fixed without bringing in more unknown soil (that likely needs to be fixed). So if your soil drains from the house away from the house toward the street or other low spots off the property, then you don't need more soil. If the previous owner removed soil to bring in the rock, then you might need more soil. Drainage is the only important factor. If you bring in more soil have it done and leveled by a landscaper with a tractor and box blade. A bobcat or skid steer won't work nearly as well as a tractor. Be sure the soil is perfectly prepped (level) before the sod is delivered. Sod sitting on pallets will either dry out or get a disease on the pallet. As for putting it down, YouTube is your friend. When you put the sod down, you need to have every piece butt up against the next piece so there are no holes or gaps. Use a machete or other large cutting blade to fit the edges or corners. Overlap the pieces of sod so they do not fit like a checkerboard. They should overlap from row to row like the slats of a wooden floor. Then when it's all down, roll it all with a rented, water fillable, roller. The idea is to push the bottom of the sod down to touch the top of the soil. Roots will not grow through the air to reach the soil. When you water the new sod, all you need is enough to keep the top of the soil moist - don't saturate it every day. Need to know where you live.

Hi everyone and thanks in advance for your help. I have removed some laminate flooring from my basement that got damaged. Now I am thinking I will redo the entire area. The laminate was removed easily, and the underlay was (is) in great shape. It is a vapour barrier underlay, on top of concrete. I am going to replace it with engineered wood. At Home Depot they have one lot of engineered hickory that was a mis-order and they need to get rid of it for $1.50/sf - regularly $8. For the same price as cheap laminate, I figure I can't go wrong. I have worked with click-together floors before, but this one will be glued tongue and groove to float it, so that will be a little different. I have watched several videos, and it does not look really all that different. Same measurements, same considerations about where the joints are, etc. One thing I am wondering about is this: at the flooring store, the installer explained that I will need to clamp as I go along. I do not own clamps for that. On youtube however, many videos show simply using strong painter's tape when you finish 2 or 3 rows - every few inches - to hold the wood together and have it set properly. I figured maybe I will supplement that with some weight (bricks or something). Has anyone done that? Any advice? I am not trying for perfection :) I just found an amazing price on some engineered wood, and thought this would be a really cool way to finish the basement. Come to think of it, one other question I have is this: what is a good type of transition to use? I do need to transition back to laminate at the end of a hallway. I have to decrease the floor height by about 5mm. Any advice would be great. Thanks a lot - I really appreciate it. Dave

I disagree neither one of them have scratched in my home in the last 11 yrs with big dogs playing inside all the time. But the quality of the flooring has a lot to do with that. I dont have wood look laminate we have one that looks like slate on our main floor and we have wood look vinyl plank in the lower level whre our dogs have free access to adog run all day. Both floors clean up with a vacuum and a damp mop and still look like new. I have never heard the hollow sound everyone talks about with laminate maybe we just used a better under pad .

I made good progress today, and figured I'd post an update in case anyone is interested. I got a copy of the relevant codes from Lowe's today, and a good bit of advice from their millworks specialist (whom I've been trying to track down for weeks). Code requires bucking. Jambs cannot be adjacent to the CB, even though the jamb is treated wood. And maximum allowable shimming is 1/4", so thick blocking won't work. Luckily, my front door meets the egress requirements, so this door can be smaller. The hole was made for a 32" door in the 50's, but a 34" will fit perfectly with 2X bucking. Instructions say to use 2x8 to completely face the CB. This will also make it easier to plumb and square the jamb because I can use my nailgun to tack it in place before anchoring it. The standard rough opening height is 80 7/8", but I only have 79 1/2", so I needed to special order, I was told that a steel door cannot be cut down, so fiberglass it is. HVHZ fiberglass is almost twice the cost of steel, but such is life. I also found, contrary to what I was told by a local contractor, that an outswing door jamb should be mounted flush with the exterior, not the interior. Not related to this thread, but it turns out that the doors are HVHZ rate regardless of inswing or outswing mounting. I had been told that they had to be outswing. Not an issue since I plan on outswing anyway, but figured I'd mention it. So, door's on order, will submit the permit applications next week, and in a couple of weeks I can start the job. Now I have to figure out if I need to file a notice of commencement. I think the answer is no, since this project is less than $2k.