Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Prepping the floor.....erk!

Ok, so there I was in my living room tearing up carpet/pad, removing baseboard moulding, and staples. I was thinking: this is not so bad - I should be able to start the kitchen tomorrow........just as soon as I remove this 3x5 section of vinyl at the front door threshold.

Famous last words.

Under the vinyl was a 1/4" sheet of plywood, stapled into the floor with about 200 very narrow, very long legged staples. And under that were the glue remains of what was apparently a ceramic tile threshold. (Why anyone would tear up ceramic to put down vinyl is beyond me.)

The glue has trowel ridges in it and I've been working at it with my scraper for hours, but it doesn't look like it will be possible to remove it all to the subfloor. I've been checking it for flatness and it looks like it's just within specs, but I am still concerned. This is the threshold after all.

Would it be a good idea to use some SLC just to be sure? Would that be effective in this case?

Thanks everyone.

I don't see an indication of the flooring type that you plan to install. Did I miss something.:D

Sorry 'bout that.....

I'm installing QuickStep Long Plank 800 laminate. The problem area is 3'x5'. There are a few gouges in the subfloor, due to when they originally removed the ceramic tile I think, and some glue I can't completely remove.

The largest gouge is about 1"x2" in area and depth about 1/8". The trowel ridges I have been able to reduce pretty well to within the 1/8" limit.

I did some pretty careful checking last night with my straight edge, and it seems ok, but I want to be sure since this is the entry to the house and it will see a lot of foot traffic.

Thanks again

Use a chalk line and stretch it across the corners a few inches off the floor of the room and measure the distance from the sub floor surface to the string/cord/line every foot or so in each direction, then do the same across the center of the room, in both directions. Sounds like SLC is a strong possibility to ensure a reasonably flat surface.

Just to make sure I'm understanding you correctly:

If measuring every foot does *not* give me a variance of more than 1/8" I don't need the SLC?

Thanks AZFred - we newbies really appreciate all the assistance you and Floorcraft give us!