First off I should say that I am not a flooring expert by any stretch, though I have watched probably dozens of hours worth of instructional and DIY videos with anything even remotely related to the job I am undertaking.
The old floor
The old floor was a sheet of linoleum (which got burned, and the cleaning crew did a poor job of tearing it all up). Under the lino there were two sheets of 1/4" ply, which were nailed and stapled together to the 1/2" ply underneath, and it appeared someone tried to level it with plaster between the two sheets, and on top of the top sheet. Below the two layers of 1/4" ply was another layer of linoleum tiles, and below that we have the 1/2" plywood covered in glue. Below the 1/2" ply we have 1"x8" sheathing spaced roughly 1/2" apart on top of the 2x10 rafters.
The sub floor
To give some more details about the 1/2" plywood sub floor, it's slightly wavy. It's not insanely bad, but there are definitely high and low spots. enough that a piece of Pergo laid flat on the floor will rock back and forth in some locations. It's also a little soft. I noticed that the refrigerator wheels wanted to dig into it when I was moving it around. I don't think it's water damaged at all, it just seems like the glue has absorbed into the wood and caused it to soften. Also there are some spots that creak, but I was thinking if I don't end up tearing the rest of the sub-floor up, maybe I can just slam some nails to stop the creaking.
Other considerations
We sort of want this project to just be finished, but not at the cost of ruining all the Pergo we've already purchased. If we end up having to tear up all the old plywood, that means COMPLETELY gutting the kitchen. All the cabinets, or most of them would need to be ripped out and replaced, because they're pretty old. And I don't see them surviving being ripped out and put back in, although they are pretty structurally sound where they currently sit.
My questions
Does the plywood sub-floor need to be ripped up and replaced, or is there a way of flattening/ leveling it? Or can the Pergo be put down on top of it even though it's not perfectly flat?
I have looked into self leveling compound, but I have no personal experience with it. Would this be a viable solution to my problem?
If the plywood needs to be ripped up (which we dearly hope it doesn't) how do I know that the new plywood won't have the same problems because perhaps what's underneath isn't level.
Any advice you might be able to provide would be really appreciated. I am learning a lot during this project, and so far everything is going pretty well. It's just that this situation really scares me. I don't want to put Pergo down and then have it fail within a few years.
Submitted January 07, 2016 at 10:30AM by faxseedoil http://ift.tt/1Uy2RdK homeowners
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