How Not To Install A Subfloor PT.1

I bought my current house a little over 2-1/2 years ago. I knew it was a "cheap flip" from the get-go but...I had no idea of exactly how bad. The housing market here in Knoxville, TN. (at the time) was insane for inventory...meaning that there wasn't enough to go around. Case in point: I sold my old house downtown in only 6 days, after a massive bid-war. Unfortunately, I had a 30 day closing and had not yet found a new home. Seems eveeything in my established price-range was either too far gone (repair-wise), or had been snapped up before I got a chance to even see the property! I spent 3 weeks in a hotel as I waited for the VA loan to go through on my accepted (full offer) of my current home. 

 Since then, I've managed to get a lot of needed updating done, like an entire new heat-duct system and getting a garage built. More on those in later posts. Since I work full-time and have many other projects, I kinda pick around and get thigs done a little at a time. I started the kitchen remodel in late 2019 but it got put on hold until this past November (2020). When I started taking up "test sections" of the floor, I noticed that this was going to be...bad. 

 Even when I was initially touring the home before the sale, my realtor pointed out the "soft spots" she'd found, particularily by the dishwasher. I let it pass as I knew I could repair it later, if need be. HOO-BOY! I'd like to talk to the mooks that installed the subfloor. I think they made need a class or twelve in how to do it properly. Where to start? 

 First off...the floor failed within the first month of me moving in; that is to say, where the vinyl flooring was seamed together, failed. It separated and curled so bad, I had to employ Mr. Duct Tape. Two years later and I finally get round to taking up the heavy vinyl. In this case it had the weight and feel of a 10mil floor. Good for a bathroom but not so good for kitchen use. Plus...it was "loose-laid" when it should have been a "full glue". At any rate, it made it easy to take up. The subfloor, itself (or lack of it in a few spots), was another matter. Are you fucking kidding me? I wasn't fully prepard for what I found (or didn't find, as in this case). There were pieces just randomly tossed down; gaps everywhere. And the majority of the luan underlayment wasn't even screwed or nailed down. This floor was doomed to failure from "Day 1".

Other parts of the floor were either missing or rigged so bad that they didn't need any help to fail...they did that before the house was even on the market! Below is one of the bad areas; this one is in front of the dishwasher. Note that the screws that were installed, are between the seams! Also note that there is absolutely no flashing...anywhere! What...the...fuck...? I learned from a certified installer for Armstrong Floors way back in '91-'93. The guy was a Master Installer and took great pride in his work. He taught me well and I've never forgotten how to do this. Proper preparation is the key to a floor that can out-last the house, itself.

Besides all the missing pieces and voids, there was the additional problem of scraping up all the seam glue (which, to me, looked similar to rubber cement). In this respect, I got lucky and was able to remove 99% of it without further damage to the substrate. The only good new I had, is that the substrate that was installed, was in pretty good shape. All I now had to do, was to finish screwing down the main body and install "fill pieces" where needed. In the case of the area in front of the dishwasher, that needed extra attention, which I'll get to in Part 2 of this re-install.