Amen, Glenn. I started when I was 12 helping Dad on weekends and evenings when Mom worked. At 15, I helped during evening weekends, and summer vacations (and getting paid!) when he went out on his own. At 17, I went to the Armstong School of Resilient Installation to learn all that I could, which was before certifications. They confirmed shool completions back then but didnt "certify" as they do now. All my life I have been taught on the job and Dad pulled me aside when other co-workers and his bosses did things inappropriately to save time and cut corners, telling me this isnt the way you should do this, but we do what we have to when we work for someone else. Every facet from pattern scribing inlaid resilient sheet in a room full of pipes and old radiators, all the way down to professionally and expertly installing vinyl/rubber cover base corners. Nothing was too big or too small to do right. At 21, me and Dad had a falling out in business. He had his own busienss now doign commercial and residential subcontract work and was becomming like so many others we laughed at and despised for doing shoddy work to make a buck, then I went out on my own. I am not maligning my Father. I love Him and he taught me pretty much evrything I know, but I couldnt do the work he was asking me to do anylonger when I knew it wasnt right. He had changed. Business had changed him. Money and time was becomming more important that job quality. Business certainly isnt easy, but a time comes when it's either right or its wrong, with little middle ground. Whhen professionals hit that crossroad, then take the wrong path, it changes them, and each time they elect that improper path, it makes the next crossroads easier and easier to take the wrong path, until the day comes that money and time means more than giving people who trust use with their work a professional job. I am an advocate of installer and buiness educataion no matter how they go about obtaining it, whether that be on the job, through a mentorship, union apprentiship, manufacturer or distributor training session, or certification. If certifications are the only way they can get proper training, they shoud go get it. Consumers need to step up and make a fuss when anything isnt exactly how they want it to be. We live in a low cost wallmart and home depot world, where as long as the price is right, they can live with almost anything. As an employer, I instill in my men and women the same installation and customer service values my Dad originally instilled in me, and I demand that on every job. I believe much of the talent has moved to the commercial spectrum too. Its where the money is at. Interesting you should say that (about commercial work getting the good men). When I left Dad, I went all commercial for about 10-11 years before we started opening up stores. Did alot of traveling and made alot of money. Now we bring those values and quality to the residential sector. In the end if something isnt done right, it doesnt matter why.

I actually used a circular saw set at the appropriate depth and removed the underlayment (particle board) just above the subfloor and then laid down a new underlayment. That avoided the whole sticky mess and let me get things leveled out before I tiled. Putting down new underlayment was a bit of a pain (maneuvering big sheets of particle board), but at least the removal was quite painless. I just set the depth of the circular saw, put on safety glasses, gloves, and a good quality mask. As I cut sections I used a prybar to pry them up and throw them out.

That was my original hypothesis. The house was a HUD property before I bought it. It spent most of the summer of 2013 (and probably most of it's life) with no AC. Combined with the fact that the room only had AC coming IN and nothing circulating out probably contributed to the moisture issue. When the inspector came to look at the house before I bought it, the below-grade block wall right next to the glue spot read an 80% reading on the moisture sensor. Thanks for the reply.

anglophilia- I'm sorry your husband died of cancer. However, that does not mean that since he he didn't die of an asbestos-related disease what you did with your floors was necessarily safe. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Many people have exposures to toxic materials, even multiple ones, and it doesn't cause them health problems or kill them...but some are affected. In my posts above urging caution, I'm not suggesting that if you have an asbestos exposure it will kill you...it's just that you want to minimize avoidable exposures. I have a 93 year old relative who is still alive after decades of smoking and working around asbestos, and I also know of a 30-year old who died from asbestos exposure as a result of a several week summer job he had in college. Risk is a complex issue that depends on many factors, including genetics. One can't predict which individuals specifically will come down with a disease from a certain type of toxic exposure; we can only see what the overall incidences are and try to help people avoid taking risks that might make them one of the unlucky ones. We are all exposed to nasty stuff, often without realizing it. Typically, larger exposures --- such as occupation-related ones -- are more concerning. But there are some substances, such as asbestos and lead, where the medical and scientific communities have yet to find any level of exposure/intake that is guaranteed safe. People want risk to be black and white: it will kill me or it won't. But most environmental concerns aren't like that, so we have to live with a wide spectrum of gray, and make personal decisions on how cautious to be or not. I know for certain something will kill me some day, but I try to avoid making choices that will possibly speed that up....