Took on a carpet job in a 1920s house and the tack strip wouldn't hold

Last month I was working on a living room in an older house near downtown and the concrete subfloor was so crumbly the tack strip nails just popped right back out. I tried epoxy anchors and ended up spending an extra 2 hours wrestling with the thing. Has anyone else run into a floor that just won't grip?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenix8456d ago

I saw a video from some old school flooring guy where he drilled small holes and hammered in hardwood dowels with glue before nailing into them. Might work better than epoxy on that crumbly concrete, your mileage may vary though.

josephb356d ago

Ran into this exact mess a few months back in a 1930s bungalow. Ended up switching to a construction adhesive instead of the nails for the tack strip. Just laid a bead of the stuff, pressed the strip down, and held it for a minute or two. That concrete was so brittle I was worried about cracking it, but the glue grabbed tight and didn't budge. Saved me a ton of headache compared to messing with anchors that wouldn't hold.