Floating floor over uneven subfloor?

[Christopher Finke]

My fiancee and I are looking to buy a house built in the late 1800's; the upstairs bedrooms were carpeted at some point, but we'd like to tear out the carpet and put in wood flooring. However, the planks that make up the floor beneath the carpet have dipped over the years (structurally sound, but definitely not flat).

Is it possible to put a floating floor (e.g. Pergo) in place when the subfloor isn't completely flat? If not, are there any comparable (as far as price) options? Thanks in advance.

[Thomas Bunetta]

[George]

Possible, but foolish. Floating on the waves?

Get some flat, if not level, with sub-flooring.

[My M-14]

There is no easy out on this.... All floors are best installed on a flat level surface. End of story!

you can rig anything to work, but will it stand up to time? and are you willing to accept sub par quality? If you can answer that with a yes then go ahead....

Bottom line is: It would be best to level out the floor, by what ever means. New subfloor, or jacking, hacking and sanding up the old floor (I'd personaly still use a subfloor over the old floor anyway even after leveling, (1800's house you'd want a more stable subfloor))

[bremen68]

If it's only cupping of the boards, I'd go with sanding them down. You'll want to fill any gaps first.

Good luck!

[Christopher Finke]

Thanks for all of the replies - pretty much what I expected, but I'm pretty amateur in this area and thought there might be an easy fix. Looks like we'll either be re-carpeting or putting down some new subflooring. Thanks again.

Chris