What to do with this subfloor?

[Julia's Trying]

This is my first time doing any flooring, we're trying to pull out the old carpet and install floating laminate ourselves. We've pulled up the carpet and I see some spots where the plywood isn't quite lined up. Does it need to just be nailed down better where it's lifting on these edges, or do I need to replace the plywood? Obviously plywood is very expensive right now and I would really prefer not to have to replace it.

 

[Mark Brown]

That my friend is not plywood, it is the devil incarnate. Puff board is terrible, remove a small piece someplace or look at a heater vent and see what your subfloor actually looks like. Likely it is osb or ply, the jump for joy and remove all the puff board.

That or secure it all and go over it

 

[Julia's Trying]

Thank you so much! I'll take a look at what's under it, I had no idea it was something else.

 

[Mark Brown]

Mobile home or condo?

 

[Julia's Trying]

It's a house we just bought, the previous owners were pretty cheap and lazy with maintenance though.

 

[MikeAntonetti]

Poor particleboard gets no respect. So “Ply”wood is layers of wood, I guess they peel a tree trunk like a carrot and glue the layers together. 3 ply, 3 layers, 5 ply 5. OSB are larger particles also glued/pressure. My major dislike is the adhesive they used, it’s not moisture resistant. Nowadays there’s great OSB, Advantech is one type.

floating floors want flat, non moving substrates. They may disconnect or make different sounds if not uniformly flat and in direct contact with substrate.

 

[Mark Brown]

Its strange to see that stuff in a home, it it does happen. Maybe they were shooting for sound deadening....maybe.

Let us know what you find under a section for sure

 

[Julia's Trying]

There's a gap by a floor vent where I can see some kind of wood, at least point I don't feel confident to name what it is lol.

 

[C.J.]

Luckily one of the nice things about floating floors is that they can be installed over a lot of things that other floors can’t. You want smooth and flat. Sand any underlayment seams so they are smooth. No lippage or over/ under. Check your floor for flatness. We use straight edges but you can get by with a piece of base or a level or… if you have to smooth out any underlayment seams, check those for flatness as well. Low spots or dips can be brought up with floor patch or by filling them in with multiple layers of roofing felt. High spots can be sanded down. Lucky for you that stuff sands pretty easily.

 

[MikeAntonetti]

What’s good patch for particleboard (Ardex feather finish we have used, but ran into it very little)

 

[highup]

From the looks of that it almost looks like weyerhaeuser Versaboard from the 1940s or 50s. How old is the house?

 

[Csason]

You could spend thousands on what’s under the carpet and not change what it would be like to install over it.
put ten or so pieces of your new floor down (buy a box if you have to) and walk on it . If it feels good over the “bad spots” you’re probably ok unless you plan on leaving the house to your great grandchildren, if that’s the case by all means replace everything