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leveling agent for plywood floor

edwardh1 | Posted in Construction Techniques on August 16, 2009 09:08am

My son may be pulling up carpet to lay down 3/4 pre finished hardwood floor. He has plywood (not osb) under the carpet.

Any idea what a common leveling agent is , if he finds any low spots?

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  1. MGMaxwell | Aug 16, 2009 09:18pm | #1

    Henry's 547 patch and skimcoat

    1. edwardh1 | Aug 17, 2009 01:32am | #2

      Their instructions say "do not nail thru it"

      1. FastEddie | Aug 17, 2009 02:17am | #4

        Not only can you not nail through it, but if the sunbfloor flexes just a little the levelling compound will fracture.  Then you have small bits of cement under the wood floor and it sounds like popcorn when you walk on it.  If the dips are minor, a couple of layers of 30# felt paper work well.  You can cut or tear the paper into odd sizes to feather out the patch."Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

        "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

      2. MGMaxwell | Aug 17, 2009 08:39am | #7

        you're right, I wasn't paying attention to the fact that it would be under nail down floor.

  2. ms | Aug 17, 2009 01:51am | #3

    I would correct the underlying problem, if there is access though a basement or crawl space. If the area is small and isolated then you could use cedar shims under the hard wood.
    Mark

  3. Chucky | Aug 17, 2009 04:24am | #5

    My brother-in-law was told to use smooth-surfaced roll roofing by his hardwood floor supplier.  He did and it worked great.

    I had used a leveling compound before my BIL told me about the roll roofing. I don't recall the instructions saying anything about nailing through it but I did and the floor still doesn't squeak after 5 years. 

    I have one room left to go and will try the roll roofing next time around.

    Don't get carried away with getting the floor level. 

    If you are running your hardwood parallel to the joists, I would not even bother to level it unless there are very big dips.   

    If you are running your hardwood perpendiclar to your joists, just make sure there are no big dips in between 3 or 4 adjacent joists. 

  4. mesic | Aug 17, 2009 07:53am | #6

    Newspaper works fine.

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