In the 20 year old town home I bought this summer, the vinyl kitchen floor feels soft to walk on. The underlying joists have a 19" gap between them. The ceiling for the basement has the grid system, so it is easy to check the flooring from underneath. The kitchen's plywood subfloor does seem to have small cracks in it, but the joists appear level. Can a slate floor be installed when joists are more than 16" apart from center? What do you recommend? Should I gut the kitchen, add more joist supports, then install a new subfloor, tile, then new cabinets and either new or old appliances?

I will also want to replace the kitchen counter top with granite, use a heavier country sink, etc.

How would I locate a good, reliable flooring person?
(I did have the house inspected before buying and no structural defects were noted).
Thank you in advance for any advice

Hi Bette
You do not mention the thickness of the existing plywood subfloor but the standard joist spacing in homes is generally 16" on center. You may want to have a building or remodeling contractor come in to see if they can cross bridge between the joists from underneath with say 2 x 6s or 2 x 8s which should help take any deflection out of the subfloor when walked on.

Any tile or slate flooring needs a good thick solid base so that the tiles will not crack later on. A tiling contractor can lay 1/2 inch thick cement board (4 x 4 sheets) over your existing plywood to stiffen up the entire floor system and to help support the tile. We recommend having at least a total of a 1-1/4 or thicker subfloor when installing tile.
The splits in your plywood may be just a visual cosmetic split commonly seen in the individual ply layers they seldom go through to the other layers.

Ask friends or relatives for referrals of some contractors they have used. Make sure that they are insured for both workmen's comp and liability insurance and that their policy is up to date. Stay away from the lower quotes that you may receive as any good qualified contractor will be worth more..

Jeff Hosking