Laminate floor subfloor not level

Jarrod23

Ok, I made a huge error in my haste to get my Pergo installed over Thanksgiving weekend. I am not a total newbie, but sometimes I just look at the end result and don't concentrate on the important things.

Ripped up carpeting in living room and dining room. Pine flooring underneath, not worth staining. Got some laminate from Lowes. Only prep I did was to try and screw some the loose pine boards (they are about 2-3" wide) down. Some screws hit the joists below, others didn't. I did this only in the areas where we had squeaking with our carpeting down.

Put laminate in over 2 days, looks great. 1 (big) problem. In 2 areas, the laminate, when stepped on, depress so much the laminate boards next to it are popping up. Think of it this way: the joint I step on goes like this v (not that extreme) and make the next 2 boards go like this ^. It covers an area maybe 2.5' by 4', but of course right where we walk from kitchen to dining room.

I tried jacking the area up from the basement, didn't work. I tried to shim under the individuals pine boards from teh basement, might have worseened teh problem. My contractor friend says to start pulling up the boards and put some additional underlayment underneath the affected (Pergo) boards. This had pre-attached underlayment, but I'm wondering if I should start pulling the laminate up and just start laying down 1/4" luan under the entire laminate floor (both rooms).

I'm in qute a pickle here.

woodman58

1/4 inch underlayment will just form to the pine boards. The only wat I know to fix the problem is take up the floor past the effected area and put a straight edge across the depression. Fill the area with peices or roof shingles till it is as close as you can get to the straight edge. Start with a 1' x 1' and make them about 6" bigger each time you over lap them till you get to the top.

Jarrod23

I was afraid that the luan would form to the floor. I like your idea, and it makes sense. At least it would fill in the void. Thank you.