Recommendations for flooring material to go on top of a trap door?
CraigT
to the point of installing some sort of flooring material in the laundry
room/rear entry. Right now the floor is 3/4" plywood. When the previous
owners installed this floor they made it 3/4" taller than the large closet
in the room which houses the furnace and hot water heater. The problem is
the furnace is an updraft model which has the filter laying flush with the
floor. The first thing I did was cut a piece of the floor out so I could
slide out and replace the filter and then I replaced the flooring. (btw-the
filter looked to be 10 years old and was almost sucked up into the squirrel
cage). Having the ability to remove this piece of flooring seems to be the
easiest way to access the filter. Now comes the hard part. I need to
install some sort of finished floor material to the 3/4" plywood that can
withstand the rigors of this setup. My first choice would be vinyl sheet
goods, but I'm worried it will eventually peel and curl. The area of this
trap/access door will see a fair amount of traffic because it will be in
front a doorway going into the kitchen from the laundry room. Any ideas?
Yes, I realize I could raise the furnace, but I was kinda thinking about
getting away easy on this project.
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HeyBub
Raised floors in computer rooms had almost all kinds of flooring: vinyl,
wood, carpet. Each 2x2' "tile" was supported on the corners by floor
stand-offs. Each "tile" had a metal edge that overlapped the flooring
material, similar to the metal edging used on countertops.
So, then, line the hole with this metal edging and do likewise with the trap
door.
Don't forget you have to have some way to LIFT the door. Computer tiles were
picked up with either a suction cup or, in the case of carpet, a
spikey-thingy that grabbed on carpet.
Joe
>snip<
> Don't forget you have to have some way to LIFT the door. Computer tiles were
> picked up with either a suction cup or, in the case of carpet, a
> spikey-thingy that grabbed on carpet.
Use recessed tie down loops like truckers have in truck beds for
securing cargo. Lots of sizes and types at Ace, Grainger, other good
hardware sources. You will have to route out a recess for the
hardware, of course.
Joe
nor...@earthlink.net
DerbyDad03
CraigT
<nor...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:MZydnaDnC4D7QKXW...@earthlink.com...
> CraigT wrote:
>> OK, here goes. I bought this investment property and I'm fixing it up.
>> I'm to the point of installing some sort of flooring material in the
>> laundry room/rear entry. Right now the floor is 3/4" plywood. When the
>> previous owners installed this floor they made it 3/4" taller than the
>> large closet in the room which houses the furnace and hot water heater.
>> The problem is the furnace is an updraft model which has the filter
>> laying flush with the floor. The first thing I did was cut a piece of
>> the floor out so I could slide out and replace the filter and then I
>> replaced the flooring. (btw-the filter looked to be 10 years old and was
>> almost sucked up into the squirrel cage). Having the ability to remove
>> this piece of flooring seems to be the easiest way to access the filter.
>> Now comes the hard part. I need to install some sort of finished floor
>> material to the 3/4" plywood that can withstand the rigors of this setup.
>> My first choice would be vinyl sheet goods, but I'm worried it will
>> eventually peel and curl. The area of this trap/access door will see a
>> fair amount of traffic because it will be in front a doorway going into
>> the kitchen from the laundry room. Any ideas?
>>
>> Yes, I realize I could raise the furnace, but I was kinda thinking about
>> getting away easy on this project.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> What is under the 3/4" plywood?
Nothing but the floor joists and an inaccessible crawlspace. Between the
bottom of the joices and the dirt floor of the crawlspace is about 12".
My intentions are to install cross bracing to the joists using hangers to
hold the trap/access door.
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4723 (20091228) __________
cshenk
> easiest way to access the filter. Now comes the hard part. I need to
> install some sort of finished floor material to the 3/4" plywood that can
> withstand the rigors of this setup. My first choice would be vinyl sheet
> goods, but I'm worried it will eventually peel and curl. The area of
> this trap/access door will see a fair amount of traffic because it will be
> in front a doorway going into the kitchen from the laundry room. Any
> ideas?
It's a laundry room. I'd use some of the outdoor carpets on the market in
solid 'cut to fit' sheets. Take a peek, it's a lot more than just 'looks
like green grass' now. My sunroom has a nice berber version. If it gets
wet, it isn't damaged by it. Probably cheaper and easier than laying vinyl
tile and will likely wear better too. (Cover the trap better too).
Just lay it over things. No need to nail it down. Peel back when needed to
access the trap.