I have a soft spot in a laminate floor I installed recently. I know what the problem is- there was a dip in the subfloor that I failed to spot and fill before I laid the floor. My question is, is there any way to fix it without having to take the whole floor back up. It’s a plywood subfloor over a crawlspace, so I can get to the underside. I’m wondering if I can drill some holes through the subfloor from the bottom and inject something under the flooring- floor leveler, canned non-expanding foam? to fill the void. Surely someone out there has run into this situation before. Any ideas? For the record I hate laminate flooring anyways but sometimes that’s what the customer wants (and what fits the budget). Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
From plumbing failures to environmental near disasters, OHJ staffers dish on our worst and best moments.
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
we did this with an engineered thin 1/4 0r 3/8 in thick- can not remember - wood floor over concrete- drilled a hole maybe 3/8 inch maybe 3 or 4 holes injected something (10 years ago) and then plugged with those small plugs we stained to match- it was a good result- may have used construction adhesive- no foam.
worked well- sorry I do not have more details
If you can access from the underside, so much the better.
We have remedied the situation with non expanding foam through drilled holes (and don´t forget a little weight on top as all foams expand a little). Drill holes 3-4" apart and use less, rather than fill the void through one hole. Tape holes.
Greetings from Germany
Mathias
That was what I had in mind; drill a number of holes, maybe a piece of plywood with a weight on top to keep it flat and squirt in some non expanding foam. I think that's what I'll try if it worked for you. Thank you very much.
Why bother with the foam? If you have access to the underside jack/shim/support it back into place to remove the void.
What is it I'm missing?
Well I considered that and frankly I haven't even crawled under yet but I think it's probably a spot in the plywood subfloor that's low for some reason- I don't think it's a low joist because it's only a spot maybe 1 1/2 feet in diameter that's soft. I'd rather crawl under there with a drill and a can of foam then jacks and blocks and etc!