we bought a 50 year old slab house.  we hired a nice conscientous
general contractor to do various odd jobs, he is not real bright but
is a perfectionist if that makes sense.  he is the main contractor now
for our kitchen remodel.  through several miscommunications
(contractors are wierd, don't ask) we bought laminate wood style
flooring and the company said they had a contractor who would float
the floor. Our main guy grumbled about our initiative on getting the
floor floater.   The floor floater came in, laid down a layer of
concrete over the existing linoleum.  Our main guy returned to install
the cabinates and had a fit when he realized they had floated concrete
over the existing linoleum also he knew all along our house slants,
the kitchen floor slants slightly,  our main guy insists the floater
should have leveled the floor and shouldn't have floated concrete over
 the existing linoleum. (the existing linoleum was in good shape,
nothing torn or obviously loose).   Since then we agreed to go with
what ever our main guy suggests. He sais he doesn't want to take on
the job himself because it is very technical and you really have to
know what you are doing especially with our slight slant!!!!   So he
has been valiantly trying to find someone to refloat our floor to his
expectations.  But he is having a hard time????  He calls us a lot, he
finds people but they don't return his call, or don't call us if he
gives them our number.  I hoped maybe the internet could help me??? 
Any good floaters in Contra Costa County or near by counties???? We
live in Pleasant Hill, near Concord and Walnut Creek.   Money is no
object!

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Clarification of Question by rintin-ga on 30 Sep 2006 14:55 PDT

Hi,  I asked the floater from the company we bought the laminate
"wood" from what he used.  He said "concrete"!!!!!   Also the laminate
floors have NOT been laid down.  All we have is this ?concrete? 
floaty stuff on the floor.  The plan was the floater would float the
floaty stuff, our conctractor would install the cabinets, and the
laminate wood floors would go down last after the kitchen cabinets
were in place.  Our main general contractor said he could break up the
existing newly floated  ?concrete? for us so another company can do a
better job floating a floor, i.e., pulling up the old linolelum and
leveling the floor.  Also the existing floaty stuff initially took a
long time to dry in some areas, the floater said 24 hours but parts
took longer than that,  when it finally dried it then preceeded to
kind of flake off a thin top layer in spots.  The floater came back
and put on another layer after scrapping off the peeling spots. I
asked him why it peeled, he said he didn't know!!!  That is when I
asked what he used, he said concrete, I repeated, "Concrete!"  he said
yes.   Currently in one different spot the floaty stuff is cracking
and a small part of the  thin top layer is peeling up!!!  We are not
DIY type people.  We are just friendly with the general contractor and
trying to help him help us.  We are not installing the laminate wood
floor when or  if it ever gets to that point!!!!!  So I still need to
find a better floaty company in the general Contra Costa County Ca
area to help us!!!!!!!

There are certain things that you need to consider before you "listen"
to anyone.  You stated that a "Floor Floater" came to you home and
spread "concrete" over exsiting flooring. Are you sure that it was
concrete.  I find that hard to believe.  It was more than likely a
"self-leveling joint compound".  This serves two purposes.  1.)Seals
floor cracks.  Even the smallest hairline cracks can indicate a
moisture hazard which can cause major damage to any floor, especially
FLOATING WOOD flooring.  and 2.) Resolve any minor foundation "slants"
as you refer to them.  (Completing a simple test by placing a wooden
plank (2x4 works very well) across the floor and noticing gaps between
the floor and plank greater than 1/4 inch will tell you whether or not
your sub-floor in in adequate condition to install your floating
floor.)

It sounds as if you are a homeowner who likes to be involved in the
renovation of his or her home.  That is great.  Here are a couple of
things you should look for when whatever contractor you hire installs
your floating wood floor.

1.) The first three rows of the floor are the most important. They
should be straight and the all the joints should fit snugly. Your goal
is to prevent the installed planks from opening up as you tap the next
planks into place.


2.) While knocking the planks together, drive in the direction of the
joint that you are trying to close. Remember that it's virtually
impossible to adjust the joints once the floor has set. So, you need
to plan your work carefully.

3.)  And finally, when installing a floating floor of anytype
especially wood you need to remember that things expand and contract
and that your installer leaves approx. 1/4 inch on all edges.  (This
will be covered up by your baseboard or quarter-round)

I hope that this information helps you.  If you want to ask me any
questions feel free.

I would also like to elaborate on one more thing.  I do realize that
he laid this surfacant over exsisting flooring.  As long as the
flooring was in sound condition with no holes, tears, or loose tiles
or joints, or seams, there should not be any problem.  In my opinion,
your general contractors reluctance to take on this job should be a
clue to how much he actually knows about the subject at hand.