When we put the plywood down we added an adhesive to it. We have done a large area and in one spot the plywood is lifting up under the laminate. Anyone have a good ideas to fix this?

Was this the first layer, which would be the subfloor, or the second layer which is called the underlayment?

What grade of plywood did you use?
How was it nailed down?
Let us know how thick each layer was and if it was T&G.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: joecaption,

Yup, the big question is did you nail it? 3/8" plywood needs nails set 4" apart in all directions (that's about 300 nails per sheet). 1/2" plywood would still need nails set 6" apart (about 130 nails). If you did not do this and used only glue than you might as well take your laminate flooring back up so you can nail the plywood down. Otherwise it will continue to buckle in other places.

If you did nail the plywood, then you'll still have to remove your laminate back to the bad area and renail it to fix the problem.

And underlayment (if that's what it is) should never have been glued, just fastened.
It should also never be installed so the seams line up with the subfloor.
Or be nailed into the floor joist.

We used 3/16 plywood over the floor boards, then underlayment. My husband used the adhesive then nails instead of screws which I think is the problem. We did a room 15' by 11' and the lifting up is in one spot.

Sure you did not mean 3/8, there is no 3/16 that I've ever heard of.
Why are you adding these in the first place?
What grade of plywood was it, and yes it makes a big differance.
What did you use for the underlayment?
What's the finished floor going to be.
Nails or screws, it still never should have lifted that fast unless somethings very wrong. I'd bet at least 99% of subfloors and underlament are nailed down with ring shanked nails not screws.
Where you trying to cover over a rotted subfloor?

Ok I think I have it right now! 1/4x4x8 OSB utility panel, 100 SF basic underlayment, spiral nails. The gentelmen at the store said we had to do it this way or the waranty would be voided. The floor is not rotting. We had carpet and wanted laminate. We used the board over the floor to have a smooth and even surface and this is what they told us to do. The rest of the floor is flat and looks beautiful, it's just this one spot. We used 1/2" spacers.

The problem is with the 1/4" OSB - it's too thin a product to use as an underlayment. A couple of reasons:
1. At only 1/4" thick, it takes a lot of nails. There are no real specs as to nail spacing for this as the 1/4" product isn't used for underlayment, but the spacing would have to be closer than every 4". That's a lot of nails yet if you do not space them that close the result will be the floor buckling.
2. Also since it's only 1/4" thick and because it's a thin OSB, it is very easy for the nail head to damage the OSB directly underneath each nail. This makes the OSB look like it has been nailed down but in reality many of the nails are pulling through. Here to, the net result is a bubble or buckle in the OSB.

You would think that the addition of glue would hold it down but obviously either there was not enough glue or not enough in at least this one problem area. My main concern is that odds are you will have other areas with similar problems.

Again, even if it is just the one area there is no fix short of pulling up the finished floor until the bad area of OSB is exposed and reattached.

Thank you Jaybee for your input. Seems like we got some bad advice from the guy at the store.

For what it's worth "glouise", I don't think "JoeCaption" was belittling you. He's actually quite helpful in this forum.
I think his response was more like "Oh, my god! Somebody gave you some bad advice and sold you materials that are not substantial enough for your application". I think that's more a reflection on the person or people who seem to have given you, let's say, less than optimal advice.

And you would be correct SturdyNail, thanks.
I'm on a bunch of DIY sites and time and time again it the same story it seems.
They go to the box store thinking there talking to "trained" experts and get horrible advice almost everytime, then come on sites like this one asking how to fix what's already been done.
Or they have watched one of the many DIY silly shows, that tend to leave out important steps, and show some questionable if not outright wrong and dangerous ways of doing things.
Eg, no contractor I know of uses a slidge hammer to remove cabinets or a window, it does not take 5 people to paint one bedroom, a deck or bathroom can not be gutted and rebuilt in 1/2 hour. You can not just put tile down over just any floor.
There is no magic way to skip the prep work on any job and have it come out long lasting and look good.
Darn I fell off of my soap box, got to go now. LOL

Since we have drifted in this direction I'll confirm that the best advice is: "To-not-take-advice-from-big-box-home-stores". Really. Home stores are great - great for finding a wide variety of product in a nice atmosphere at good prices. I spend between $1K and $2K per week at Lowe's and spend so much time there that my wife refers to Lowe's as my 'mistress". Lots of good things to say about home stores. But not their building advice. Never.

Most home stores have a handful of building pros who really know their stuff. And then the rest of the crew who may mean well but know less than nothing. It's a case of a little knowledge being worse than none. You really will be far better off asking for advice from your reflection in a mirror than the average home store employee.

I know I'm spending to much time in the box stores when employees come to me to ask where something in the store is or come get me to talk to a customer.