My Custom Subfloor System (And It’s Cheaper)

hey guys Jeff here and I'm in the basement job today is subfloor day which means we are going to be installing a different system this time because today we are going all about the thermal brick now I'm not going to go to the store and buy some pre-made product I don't like overpaying for my jobs right so I'd rather integrate a couple different building materials to build my own subfloor system I'm going to show you that system today I'm going to show you my tips and tricks for getting a perfect job if you're in the market to run a major basement then you're going to want to consider putting in a subfloor for a couple of different reasons one of them is water management and another one is thermal management because basements can be rather cold we have them usually in the north climates and they get extremely cold and you can't sit down and enjoy yourself in a basement in a lot of cases today we're going to put a thermal brake on this floor and we're going to do it cheap it's about a buck and a half a square foot to get the whole program done which is about a dollar a square foot cheaper than the competitors and the pre-built Market want to learn all your different options then you can check out this video up here put a link in the video description I did a video recently where I discussed six different products and the pros and cons of each of them sometimes the pre-built product is necessary but here we have a big window and I can bring in 4x8 sheet Goods no problem that's what we're going to work with today first thing we've got to do is clean things up if you're a fan of the channel you've seen how I'd install drywall and I use the plastic and I use permanent marker to Mark the studs the problem with plastic on the floor is that it's in the way of keeping things clean okay so we're going to get rid of that plastic now that it's redundant so look at all the dirt so here's the thing it doesn't matter what system you put on the floor for subfloor every time you take a step you're going to have a little bit of movement and the air is going to move and that air moving is going to grab dirt and throw it back into the atmosphere in the room if you don't cut back the plastic I know this I'm being redundant right it seems obvious if you don't cut it back you're going to have a dirty basement for two years so take your time this is only here because when they're building a wall they have to have a separation between the wood and the concrete and because it's there I've developed a system to make it valuable turn it into more than just a vapor barrier and now it becomes part of my marking system as soon as you get that bottom row of screws on it's just in the way and dirty can't even keep your site clean here we go check that out that is a lot of dirt now there's two options you can sweep and sweep and sweep and sweep but all you're going to be doing is kicking around dust and the dust is going to sell again or you can go grab that vacuum and just vacuum the area okay now let's introduce for this product for our thermal break we're using four by eight foot sheets of dura foam this is a closed cell rigid insulation board it is approved and designed for use on concrete floors as a vapor barrier and a thermal Barrier Foil back vapor barrier pretty green front so you don't forget who it is this is available in the building store comes to says three quarter in one inch we went with the three quarter because we're trying to be conscientious about the height for the stairs when the house was built they knew they were going to put a subfloor in so they added a little bit of room but they also wanted to put in engineered hardwood flooring down here so we are going with a thermal concern only this house is brand new it has all the waterproofing features it's also on the top of a hill 200 feet to the closest water built on Sand drainage it's just water's not a problem here water Finds Its way into this house because it sprung a leak somewhere in the house the only consideration we have here is thermal brake and what they do is they cut these boards in half and they use sleepers and all of that is just not necessary and you might want to tape your joints so they have a continuous vapor barrier makes a little easier to work with if it's all taped together the idea here is we're just going to do the whole row and then we're going to start screwing down our OSB right on top [Music] now here's a great opportunity to learn a trick that doesn't fit and a lot of you right now are going oh that's awesome how's it going to cut around this mess I don't want to take time to measure and cut the angle and the piece this kind of thing should be lickety-split right there we go problem solved we shouldn't even be using a measuring tape in the scenario there we go it is a lot easier once the next row is in going all the way across for me to then measure that one piece because there's two numbers in eight I need from here to here and I need from the top of that to where the four feet over is so until I put the more of this panel down it's hard to get that measurement so it's easier just to move on not worry about it here that's an easier piece to install look at that so that Gap is uh 13 and a half because I cut it out of the same piece it's exactly the fit right so whenever I cut off as long as this is flush is going to be the right piece for the job here we go so we're just going to measure I'm at 33 and a half okay there's my spot right there all right come over here 46 and a half there's my spot right there and then I'm just going to foreign this works freehand cutting like this because it's foam and it's simple put your knife where you start and then you look where you want to finish and your brain will do the job pretty darn close most of the time here we are now we're all screaming because hey Jeff you didn't get rid of your plastic in your dirt yet foreign baby all right here we go layer number two this is 5 8 OSB tongue and groove we're going to stick the first piece right there in the corner and we're going to leave just a tiny air gap all the way around the perimeter because like I talked about deflection if this is making contact with the drywall anytime someone walks in the area you're going to hear a little rubbing sound so try to give yourself just a little bit of a gap all right guys here we go demonstrate my system what you're going to want to do 3 16 bit comes in the case with two and three quarter inch screws the new topic cons have a pan head and they use a T25 bit star head okay really effective the secret to know here is that you don't want too many of these screws so this four foot sheet I'm going to put one here here here and here okay four screws is a lot on a really large sheet if your floor is flat you can get away with six not that big a deal the idea here you want to use a hammer a little bit of hearing protection hearing is the one thing apparently you don't get back now I have a drill driver that has a hammer drill function it is a lot slower than a hammer drill so spend the money if you're going to put a subfloor in you're going to spend a couple thousand bucks on your subfloor go out and buy a 70 tool for God's sake look how quick this is [Music] oh okay there we go make sure you drive it right to the very tip of this check your screw length make sure the bits going in deeper and then you clean the stone out in this case it's not part of the solution it's part of the problem there's too much debris with that particular combination the head of the screw shears right off get some resistance this should be flush to buried can't have raised screws because then your flooring is going to have bumps it's going to make noise when you walk okay one more time in case you missed it [Music] foreign on the floor all right that's simple that's a subfloor now there are other videos on the internet I've got one with an old system that we use a dimpled membrane without insulation underneath 5 8. that works too if you have an older house you have water concerns but like I said if you're not sure what kind of subfloor you use make sure that you check out that other video foreign one more thing when you're installing always start with the tongue against the wall that way when you put your next sheet in like I'm going to do right now I'll show you how to tap them together you're not going to end up damaging yourself have yourself a two by four and a hammer handy because you can always throw them on the lead Edge keep them with you sitting on the board you can manipulate everything in its place do your best to get rid of all the gaps it helps keep everything square a small Gap here change the direction makes a big gap later and rinse and repeat like this will go all day long right here we go [Music] there we go guys that's pretty much that simple make sure you put all of your one layer and then the next layer this particular product is easily damaged so make sure try to just kind of do one thing at a time you don't want to do all 1200 square foot your basement in the door foam and then start walking sheets of plywood in okay other than that that's really all there is keep it tight keep it square and get it secured and if you have a floor that has a lot more movement one of the things you can do to deal with that is this you can put a relief cut if you have a floor and it ridges you can come along you can screw down your subfloor and you're like you're sticking an inch and a half off go get your skill saw cut a relief cut right down the middle of this thing and then screw it down really nice and tight movement is your enemy because no matter what kind of flooring you have if you have movement you're gonna have problems in this particular case we're putting in engineered hardwood flooring that video is coming up soon but we have enough thickness between the insulation and the 5 8 we can actually staple right through into this without having any difficulty okay so just to give you a demonstration here if you screw down this Edge and this Edge you're going to run into problems because OSB comes off the factory line and has this natural bow in it you can see it up front so you got to screw the middle or else when you put your flooring in if you put your flooring in in this direction your planks you're going to have hump after hump after hump in your basement and every time you walk it'll be moving and deflecting and moving and deflecting it puts a lot of pressure on things so the rule would always be as simple you screw down the middle a couple of screws down the middle and then you put a couple of screws on the tongue side the same with the neck suit and the next seat in the next sheet it flattens it out it tightens your joints and that'll give you a perfect floor every time one more thing when you're installing your flooring finish a row and put your screws down the middle right away because every time you step on this there's outward pressure so you can do the whole basement and then go to screw but you're going to run under trouble because all that walking around while you're doing the work is pushing the gaps open so do a row tighten it up with a 2x4 throw in a few screws and then move on to the next row because if you wait you're going to get start screwing and you all the way back here you're going to have half inch gaps in your floor that'll drive you crazy listen if you're renovating your house there's a million ways to do just about everything so if you've got questions about your project consider joining our membership program I'm actually designed a forum just for us that we can have conversations you can send me pictures we can interact and I can help you troubleshoot and solve questions for your house remember there's no such thing as one way to do everything there's multiple ways there's no such thing as the best way every house is different it's a unique patient so the best solution for me is not necessarily the best solution for you if you need that question answered join membership and I'll help you come up with a solution for your project cheers from next

Channel: Home RenoVision DIY

Views: 508,667

Keywords: homerenovision, renovision, jeff thorman, homerenovisiondiy, subfloor installation, subfloor system, dricore, subfloor, subfloor repair, subfloor insulation, subfloor squeak repair, subfloor patch, basement renovation, basement makeover, basement renovation ideas, subfloor over concrete, basement subfloor, basement flooring, do it yourself

Id: qyUZ3SgNvfY

Length: 12min 10sec (730 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 14 2023