Leveling Plywood Subfloor For Hardwood

After vacuuming or sweeping the subfloor to clean it add a plywood.

Leveling plywood subfloor for hardwood.

If not your floor covering which is the solid hardwood laminate tile or other exposed flooring that goes on top of the subfloor will never be flat and level this problem can be fixed but it all depends on exactly what kind of uneven subfloor you have. The key to a beautiful long lasting hardwood or laminate floor is a well prepared subfloor. Do this by multiplying the room s length by its width. Plywood can usually span slight imperfections and waves in the concrete but check to see each 4x8 sheet is level and the same height across the floor.

Self leveling underlayment products can be used on concrete floors wood subfloors that are uneven but still in decent shape and even over ceramic tile floors eliminating the task of tearing. Level floors are critical for reducing gaps between the flooring material and substrate and preventing sagging and other structural complications. Hardwood floor installers often use the term level when referring to subfloors when actually they are meaning the term flat. Laminate planks snap together and float above a subfloor which means tiny subfloor imperfections are okay although again a level subfloor will help prevent damage.

The plywood becomes the new subfloor with the hardwood floor laying on top. Plywood allows for a much better build up with lower undulations in the subfloor. How to level a subfloor for a hardwood floor install. You ll need to drill through the wood and into the concrete to fasten it down.

Build up from the lowest elevation using the products that allow for enough incremental elevation gain to get to within flatness tolerance. To level a subfloor for installing laminate follow the directions above to remove high and low spots. Whether you re going on to install hardwood ceramic tile or laminate one of the most important steps of any flooring project is making sure the subfloor foundation is level.