How do I repair/strenghen the floor in front of a door?
Question:I am replacing the floor in the kitchen and in front of the door to the outside is a soft spot probably caused by water and years of wear. I am thinking about an overlayment as sort of an entry pad rather than trying to replace the subfloor. I was thinking about marine grade plywood or is there something better? It will get the normal amount of water on it from the traffic through the entry door.
Answers:
To do it right, wouldn't want to do it any other way, replace the footer. This can be done partially in an overlay fashion. But just going over a bad part of the structure with plywood is a temporary thing and will just be twice as much work and monies when it needs repair again.
If it is probably caused by water, find that and fix it.
Then replace all the water damaged structure with new stuff.
Sounds like a plan if your floor joists haven't rotted, depending on the floor covering like vinyl. You might want to caulk the perimeter to better seal the covering and protect the wood.
Remove the existing flooring that's sagging - probably plywood or particle board. You'll want to make sure you remove out to dead center of the floor joists. Replace that with plywood of the same thickness and put on your floor covering. That should give you a good strong floor.
whatever kind of material you are going to replace it with (of course that should fit to your existing design, may it be wood, vinyl, ceramic...) you should properly install it and have it protected, say, with appropriate paints for wood.
in addition, install a nosing or a trim at the edges of your doors.
and lastly, have in place a mat where you can wipe off water or dusts from your shoes
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