California B2 Residential Remodeling – Flooring
Free Exam

Outdoor carpet and turf must be installed when the temperature is between 55 to 95 degrees F.

A polyethylene layer is placed over the entire slab, overlapping 4 to 6 inches and extending under the baseboard.

Carpet adhesive systems should not be used directly over existing sheet vinyl, homogeneous or laminated solid vinyl tile surfaces or over some rubber flooring product. The reason is that these listed materials may migrate into the adhesive and loosen the bond.

On carpet on stairs installations, the nosing and return must be rounded 3/4" to 1”.

For board sub-floor use only 3/4” dress-square edge-boards no wider than 6 inches.

All of the following are tests that can be used to determine the moisture of concrete before applying hardwood flooring over it: the rubber mat test, the polyethylene film test and the calcium chloride test.

Fabric, vinyl, polyurethane or latex rubber are all backing material that can be used for installing outdoor carpet.

Plank flooring is normally made in 3" to 8" widths and may have counter-sunk holes for screwing the planks with wood screws.

Tackstrips are installed on each riser. A tackstrip is also installed on each tread.
Note: Most manufacturers recommend carpet pile direction to run up the stairs.

Primers are required on all of the following floor surfaces: acoustical concrete, sanded wood sheet product and dusty porous concrete.

An excessive amount of alkali on the surface of a concrete floor can prevent the bonding of a latex adhesive to the surface.

A pH test is used to determine the alkaline levels present on a surface. A pH test on a surface is performed in the following manner:
1. Dampen the floor area to be tested
2. Wait 5 minutes
3. Place pH paper on wet areas, the
paper will change color.
4. Check to see what number is correspondent to
the color you got to determine the pH level.
Note: pH levels range from 0 to 14.
7 is Neutral
Numbers below 7 are acidic. The more you approach 0 the more the acid levels rise.
Numbers above 7 are alkaline. The more you approach 14 the more alkaline levels rise.

Among others, terrazzo, ceramic and marble can use adhesives.

Parquet, block, herringbone and similar floors are normally laid in asphalt mastic and as a result don’t require a nailing surface on top of the slab.

Cushion seams must be butted without compression.