Finally stopped fighting with click-lock vinyl over concrete prep

I used to just skim coat the really bad spots and call it good on concrete subfloors. Spent a whole Saturday last month on a job in a 1970s basement outside Cleveland where the floor had these little bumps everywhere. Put down the click-lock and it sounded like a bag of rocks every step. I ended up going back, renting a big floor grinder from Sunbelt for $120, and spent maybe 3 hours knocking down the high spots and filling low ones with self leveler. Night and day difference. The locking system clicked together smooth as butter and the customer even commented how solid it felt underfoot. Has anyone else found a faster method for concrete prep without sacrificing the finish?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim_sanchez191mo ago

Rented that same grinder once and spent half the time just trying to figure out how to start it. But yeah, no shortcut beats the look on a customers face when they actually tell you the floor feels solid.

hayes.elliot1mo ago

The rental place should have a little sticker right on the body that shows you step by step, but they never do. Figuring out the choke and the fuel valve on those things is half the battle. And you're right, that feeling when a customer just walks across the floor and nods... that's the real pay. No amount of fancy marketing can replace that solid sound under their boots. It's just you and the machine and the dust.