Modern home materials & technologies discussion thread

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,135
1,594
126
It would seem that if you glue the tile over linoleum, then you wouldn't potentially be damaging the subflooring. Is that what you are questioning?

But if you were to glue the tile directly on top of the subflooring, wouldn't that be a valid concern?

I'll try to be clearer. By using the tile adhesive on the floor over the linoleum, you've made all the layers a single piece. Next time you or anyone else wants to change the tile, you will be forced to replace not just the tile, not just the tile and the linoleum but, the tile, linoleum and subfloor. In other words, tile adhesive when used on floors is a bad product. You don't have that problem with traditional thin set mortar. Also, never tile or put down any type of flooring over the existing linoleum.
 

Carson Dyle

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2012
8,174
524
126
I'll try to be clearer. By using the tile adhesive on the floor over the linoleum, you've made all the layers a single piece. Next time you or anyone else wants to change the tile, you will be forced to replace not just the tile, not just the tile and the linoleum but, the tile, linoleum and subfloor. In other words, tile adhesive when used on floors is a bad product. You don't have that problem with traditional thin set mortar. Also, never tile or put down any type of flooring over the existing linoleum.

If you can pull up linoleum when it's been laid over a subfloor, without damaging the subfloor, why couldn't you also pull up tile laid over linoleum?
 

MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,135
1,594
126
If you can pull up linoleum when it's been laid over a subfloor, without damaging the subfloor, why couldn't you also pull up tile laid over linoleum?

Right now you probably could. The problem is that over time, the linoleum bonds to the subfloor. Whether it's just a matter of time, being covered by another layer or, some combination I don't know. I do know that it causes a real problem down the road. There is also the problem of trim heights, cabinets being locked in place and, boundaries where different flooring meets the new. I have seen houses with 5 layers of linoleum and tile on top with tile adhesive used and the entire floor had to come up down to the floor joists. The added weight is not inconsiderable and causes sagging because if the previous folks took shortcuts with the floor, I guarantee they took took shortcuts with other things as well.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,387
5,255
136
A few more interesting items:

Thermacore: Up to R-17.5 insulated garage doors.
Liftmaster Elite: Powerful, quiet, and with great features like battery backup & smartphone control.
Pella Impervia: Durable, energy-efficient windows & patio doors.
Mar-flex: Foundation & basement waterproofing stuff, especially good when building with concrete.
AZEK: PVC trim etc. Neat stuff to work with. Billed as a synthetic wood alternative.
American Wick: Landscape drainage solutions.
Hydraliner: Crawlspace waterproofing system.

I have a ton of interesting stuff on lawn drainage too; I grew up in Florida (low water table) & did lawncare as a side job in high school and learned some interesting things over the years about different ways to do a lawn (including fake lawns!). Some neat stuff on drainage & other landscaping stuff:

Hydraway: Drainage system. Check out this video for drainage footage.
FieldTurf: High-drainage fake grass. Residential version is called EasyTurf. Check out this video for drainage footage.
AmeriTurf: Another synthetic grass company.
Commercial Silk: High-end fake plants, which is great for a lot of situations - if you don't have the interest in maintaining real plants, for the elderly, for people with allergies, etc. This brand has some nice fire retardant features as well.
NDS: Tons of awesome landscape drainage systems (home of the EZ-Drain mentioned in the OP).
Hummer SandGrid: This is more for large sports turfs, but if you have a big backyard...well, check out the timelapse.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,387
5,255
136
My buddy is doing a renovation and will be using a Magic Pak HVAC system:

http://www.magic-pak.com/products/

It's a heating/cooling system that uses small ducts with high-velocity air, supposed to be pretty efficient (as well as great for existing construction & older homes - he's upgrading a very old classical home that doesn't have much leeway in terms of room for a full HVAC upgrade). A couple competitors:

http://www.unicosystem.com/

http://www.hi-velocity.com/

Not sure if this one is related to Magic Pak or not:

http://spacepak.com/

Good overview of high-velocity HVAC systems:

http://www.sila.com/services/older-homes/high-velocity-systems/
 

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
14,450
9,835
136
How about adding Zip board, sheathing systems: http://www.huberwood.com/zipsystem/home-zip-system Basically OSB with a coating, so it eliminates the need for Tyvek. In my research it is a bit cheaper than OSB + Tyvek.
Advantech Decking: http://www.huberwood.com/advantech/home-advantech Makes for great subfloors, supposedly stiffer than standard OSB or Plywood.

Both Zip and Advantech have become defacto standards around here.

Also Hardie siding: http://www.jameshardie.com/
And any form of SolarBoard OSB for roof decking (radiative barrier glued to inside of of the sheet), there are a few different brands. When I've had it quoted, Solarboard runs about $0.10 more per sheet, in quantity.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,280
5,053
136
The zip board is a very interesting product. I've never seen it used here in CA, and never heard of it. Great idea though.
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,606
166
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
I was just skimming through this thread. I'd think that tile over vinyl is a very poor idea. I cannot see how the vinyl is sturdy enough to prevent flexing when the tile was walked on. When I did an internship as a ceramic engineer, we had an entire mall full of our tiles failing - and that was simply from an adhesive that wasn't absolutely rock solid - it allowed a tiny bit of flexing, and with traffic, over time, a lot of tiles were cracking.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,280
5,053
136
I was just skimming through this thread. I'd think that tile over vinyl is a very poor idea. I cannot see how the vinyl is sturdy enough to prevent flexing when the tile was walked on. When I did an internship as a ceramic engineer, we had an entire mall full of our tiles failing - and that was simply from an adhesive that wasn't absolutely rock solid - it allowed a tiny bit of flexing, and with traffic, over time, a lot of tiles were cracking.

In a residential setting you can often get away with it, but as a contractor it's just not worth the risk.
For the few bucks you save I just don't see why anyone would do it. Maybe in a somewhat rundown rental house or a cheap apartment it makes sense, but it's not something you want to do in your home.

As it happens, the house I'm remodeling right now had tile over vinyl in the bathroom. The tile had been there for years and was in perfect condition. In many places the vinyl pulled up with the tile. So it can absolutely work, the issue is knowing when it won't.
 

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
14,450
9,835
136
The zip board is a very interesting product. I've never seen it used here in CA, and never heard of it. Great idea though.

Ditto, new to me, looks amazing!

When I had it quoted in 2011, the Zip board sheathing and tape cost about the same as OSB and Tyvek, minus the Tyvek tape. At that time Framers charged the same to install either product. In 2011, about 1 in 10 houses were using Zip, now they all do, so I am guessing framers might charge to install Tyvek now.

When it first started getting used I noticed a lot of the tape coming off. I am not sure if they changed the tape or if framers just got better at installing it because I haven't noticed tape coming off lately.

There is also the Zip roof decking, I think it is supposed to eliminate the need for tar paper, but I've never seen it used on residential around here.
 

richardycc

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2001
5,719
1
81
awesome guys, keep them coming..this is like 'I want that' show for home building materials.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,387
5,255
136
awesome guys, keep them coming..this is like 'I want that' show for home building materials.

Not really exciting, but AFCI is now being required in a lot of areas; saw it for sale at Lowes the other day. Leviton has a nice breakdown vs. GFCI:

http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/SectionDisplay.jsp?section=61250&minisite=10251

I wish their tamper-proof hospital-grade 20-amp models weren't so expensive ($50/ea)...I'd love to do a new house build with them everywhere for 110% overkill :biggrin:

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-AFTR2-.../dp/B00LWH50WS
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,280
5,053
136
Here in CA just about everything is AFCI, and the few locations that aren't require a GFCI.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,280
5,053
136
When I had it quoted in 2011, the Zip board sheathing and tape cost about the same as OSB and Tyvek, minus the Tyvek tape. At that time Framers charged the same to install either product. In 2011, about 1 in 10 houses were using Zip, now they all do, so I am guessing framers might charge to install Tyvek now.

When it first started getting used I noticed a lot of the tape coming off. I am not sure if they changed the tape or if framers just got better at installing it because I haven't noticed tape coming off lately.

There is also the Zip roof decking, I think it is supposed to eliminate the need for tar paper, but I've never seen it used on residential around here.

How do they handle the nail holes in that stuff? Generally, most exterior OSB here in CA has to be nailed off 4" to 6" OC on the perimeter, using 10 penny shorts (.148 diameter x 2 1/4" long). Thats a heck of a lot of nail holes to weep water.

We were counting empty nail boxes at lunch the other day, and it looks like we used roughly 32,000 10 shorts on a 1200 square foot addition. That would be a bunch of nail holes to fill.
 

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
4
0
Speaking of sharkbites, I saw that Lowes carries a Lasco PVC Push Coupling. It's for irrigation use only (apparently), but this is the first time I've ever seen something similar to a sharkbite that was made for PVC and not plex. Nothing worse than having to repair a sprinkler line and digging deep enough so you can get under the pipe to get cement on the bottom side. This is seems like a much easier solution.
 
Last edited:

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
14,450
9,835
136
How do they handle the nail holes in that stuff? Generally, most exterior OSB here in CA has to be nailed off 4" to 6" OC on the perimeter, using 10 penny shorts (.148 diameter x 2 1/4" long). Thats a heck of a lot of nail holes to weep water.

We were counting empty nail boxes at lunch the other day, and it looks like we used roughly 32,000 10 shorts on a 1200 square foot addition. That would be a bunch of nail holes to fill.

IIRC the coating on the board handles sealing the nails, but I've never installed it myself. There are a ton of houses going up around me, I'll see if I can catch one that has been taped but not bricked and take some pictures.
 

richardycc

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2001
5,719
1
81
Wow! So what's the review - does it work & do you like it?

I don't know, because my garage is not insulated and unheated. I think it is usually in mid 50s during the winter no matter how cold it is outside.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,387
5,255
136
EZ-Level cabinet leveling system:

http://www.ez-level.com/

The idea is to "laser level your entire kitchen in minutes" using this built-in tool instead of shims or plinth feet (convenience item, albeit pricey at $15 a pop). It's a permanent leveling system that can be adjusted at any time & is granite-friendly (protects it from cracking). It comes in a set with a front & rear leveler & a short & long adjusting rod to adjust each respectively. Some more background by the owner here:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/other...evel-before-for-cabinets/msg210414/#msg210414

I like the concept because years down the road, you can easily adjust your cabinets to be level as things warp or have thermal expansion or water damage or whatever. Having that issue right now in my kitchen actually, and we're prepping to do a renovation due to water damage from ice dams (damaged both cabinets & flooring), so I may pick these up if the insurance budget allows me to go for some nice cabinets from Cliq Studios:

http://www.cliqstudios.com/

Cliq cabinets + EZ-Level feet seems like a super easy way to go the DIY route for kitchen cabinet installation.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,280
5,053
136
I often wondered why no one ever produced this for cabinetry, they've had a very similar setup on refrigerators for years. Price point needs to come way down though, they wouldn't save me enough time to cover the cost.
 

shabby

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,779
40
91
Whats wrong with the ikea leveler's?

ikea-kitchen-cabinet-legs.jpg
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
21,959
4,683
146
I'd have a problem tiling over most lino too. Heat is your friend when taking up old lino, it can make a big difference. Even a regular hair dryer can make a difference.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,280
5,053
136
Whats wrong with the ikea leveler's?

ikea-kitchen-cabinet-legs.jpg

The entire ikea toe kick and leveler system is trash, complete 100% garbage. The entire concept and implementation offends me. Whatever idiot came up with such a pathetic kludge of a piece of shit should have the hide flayed off his miserable carcass. If you ever use Ikea cabinets, throw that flimsy plastic junk in the trash and build proper toe kicks.

I'll step off my soap box now.