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Thread: Built-in advice needed

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
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    Orlando, FL
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    Built-in advice needed

    My next project is a rather large built in entertainment center for my living room. The room has a floating, snap in laminate floor.

    Should I install the built in on top of the floor or should I remove the floor, install directly on the slab and then refloor up to the cabinet?

    If I install on the slab, do I need a vapor barrier between the built in base and the bare concrete?
    Age and Treachery will always beat youth and skill.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    Jack, to avoid having to pull up the floor and the time/expense that brings, you could use a hole saw to "strategically place" a series of openings to the sub-floor for support blocks to hold up your built-ins. Alternatively, you could cut along the proposed boundary of the built-ins with a guided saw just outside of the line and build your platform directly on the concrete. You may need to finish the cuts near the wall with the tip of a Reciprocating Saw. If you have a vapor barrier under the existing floor, you should also have it under your new cabinetry, too.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Pleasantville, NY
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    612
    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Norfleet
    My next project is a rather large built in entertainment center for my living room. The room has a floating, snap in laminate floor.

    Should I install the built in on top of the floor or should I remove the floor, install directly on the slab and then refloor up to the cabinet?

    If I install on the slab, do I need a vapor barrier between the built in base and the bare concrete?
    Do you have a foam based vapor barrier under the floor ? If so I can tell you heavy objects will depress the foam and "lower" the floor.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Orlando, FL
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    179
    Quote Originally Posted by jeremy levine
    Do you have a foam based vapor barrier under the floor ? If so I can tell you heavy objects will depress the foam and "lower" the floor.
    I do have the foam barrier. Looks like I will have to remove it.

    Jim,

    I hadn't thought of cutting it with a GCCS. That is a great idea, thanks.
    Age and Treachery will always beat youth and skill.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Vero Beach FL
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    594
    Jack

    Jerry makes a good point, but I wonder what would happen if you built the unit on a plywood base, like a box sitting on its side. This would spread the load across the entire area of the entertainment unit rather than on just a couple of smaller bearing surfaces. Then, if you fastened the unit to the wall studs the load would be distributed to the house's frame as well as to the floor. Don't know if this is more/less work than the guided saw solution proposed by Jim (which by the way I agree with 100%) I was just trying to think of another solution that might reduce the potential complexities of cutting the flooring.

    Jay

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
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    980
    I would leave the floor and install the cabinet by shimming it level and screwing it to the wall. Make the cabinet so it is strong enough to be wall hung (1/2" back) and really screw it to the wall or use some good cleats. Then remove the shims and install the base trim/shoe molding over the gap.

    It occurs to me that you could also place a ledger along the wall where the old base board was. There should be a gap at the wall where a strip of plywood could be installed and screwed to the studs (about 5" tall) so the cabinet bottom could rest on it and bear directly on the floor.
    Strive for perfection...Settle for completion

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