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Home Repair Remodeling Flooring

HELP! 1904 Farmhouse flooring; 2nd floor and stairwell.

last year

The original part of my farmhouse was built in 1904; that part of the house contains the kitchen, dining room, and 1 bedroom downstairs, the stairs going up and 2 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.

The main sewer pipe (cast iron) cracked, which lead down a rabbit hole, and now we are replacing flooring. After removing all the carpet from the upstairs and the stairway we are left with the ugliest asbestos tile (positively identified by lab testing) in the bedrooms, no floor in the bathroom (we took the bathroom completely down to studs and subfloor to remodel) and on the landing at the top of the stairs is wood that has been painted a million and seven times and is in exceptionally poor condition.

-Due to a house full of children and winter approaching here in the one of the coldest parts of the US, we would prefer to not pull out the tile. Instead, we would like to create a new "false" floor over the top, and then put sheet vinyl flooring over the top. We have 5 kids, a multitude of animals, and did mention this place is a zoo? I mean, farm?! Sheet vinyl is a great inexpensive option for now, but I would like to know if I can use something to help it be a little softer on the feet. We did go with a "padded" sheet vinyl, which is the thickest we could fine at 12mm thickness. It just doesn't seem like much.

Can I use a 1/4" polystyrene foam underlayment under the sheet vinyl? Im hoping to serve several purposes, softer on the foot, warmer (we live near Canada), and will cover the imperfections in the already existing asbestos tile. Is this an option, or should I just got with the regular OSB and deal with the hard foot feel of the sheet vinyl?

Thanks for any insight/options/suggestions!

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Comments (2)

cat_ky
last year
No foam, just put vinyl over the top of the asbestos. Its not a problem when it is not disturbed. It will be safe. Or just recarpet it, so it stays warmer and is quieter too.
Tiffani Tesch
Original Author
last year
@cat_ky thanks for the reply. I will have to put down something over the existing asbestos tile, as it is in bad shape (not just the tile, but the floor overall). I will need a much smoother surface to lay the sheet vinyl on, just wanting to know if OSB is the ONLY option, or if there is something else like the hardboard polystyrene I hadn't thought about. Carpet isn't an option - too many kids and animals - we live on an actual operating farm, so not bringing dirt into the house just isn't an option, i swear it seeps in all on it's own around here!
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