Leaving plywood subfloor exposed

phillysfinest4

I am in the process of renovating my new house. The carpet in the second floor smells really bad and I want to rip it up. Underneath it is plywood. He plywood looks ehh ok, not like how it looks brand new but just ok. I don't have plans to lay new carpet for a few months, maybe like 5 months. The upstairs gets zero use, is it ok to leave the plywood exposed?
Thanks

joecaption

It's not going to hurt anything to leave it exposted.
It's not pet pee or poop or moisture issues that made that old carpet stink is it?

phillysfinest4

Im not sure. The carpet downstairs smelled cause of cigarette smoke, they were dirty people and yes because of dog pee. So I would guess that is one of the reasons the upstairs carpet smells, why?

joecaption

If the wood stinks once it's been vacuumed off and you can see stains on the wood, I'd suggest sealing it with a shellac based primer.
Zinzeer makes a good on.

phillysfinest4

Ok cool, im doing it this weekend so ill be able to fully smell the plywood. What does the shellac do? Pros? Also how do I apply it? Thanks

joecaption

Seals the wood better then just plan primer. Shellac is often use on knoty woods to seal the knots to stop them from bleeding through the primer and paint.

It's not going to have to be perfect, a roller frame with a long handle on it so you can stand up while doing it should be fine, with a 1/2" nap roller cover, might want to also have a 4" brush handy to hit any spots you miss along the baseboards.
Make sure you start in a corner and work your way out to the door way.

phillysfinest4

thank you
i'll reply to this thread if i have any other questions

phillysfinest4

I just lifted up a few sections to see what else would be under there and under some places, there is pre stick adhesive tile. I would like to take that up. How do I do that?