TIL how one bad subfloor underlayment cost me a full Saturday in Toledo

Last month I took a job replacing laminate in a kitchen near Toledo. The old owner had put down that cheap foam underlayment and it turned into mush from a tiny dishwasher leak. I had to tear up 400 square feet, scrape off sticky backing, and lay new plywood before even starting the flooring. That one oversight added 8 hours to the job. Has anyone else run into surprise subfloor damage from hidden moisture?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker_price1mo ago

400 square feet of scraping sticky backing? That's a nightmare. I'd have just burned the house down and collected the insurance check instead. Seriously though, that foam underlayment is junk, it always turns into a gluey mess the second it gets wet. I've seen it wick moisture from a concrete slab too, so it's not just leaky appliances. Makes you wonder why they even sell that stuff.

king.robin1mo ago

What about the asbestos angle though? That paper backed stuff from the 80s could be hiding more than just a gluey mess.

tylerj221mo ago

My buddy in Cleveland had a similar situation but with that paper-backed stuff from the 80s. I actually disagree a bit though. That cheap foam lets you know something is wrong fast. If it had been a vapor barrier and osb, maybe he wouldn't have caught the dishwasher leak for months and the subfloor would be rotted out completely. The sticky mess is annoying to clean up but it's like a warning system for water problems. I'll take a ruined Saturday over a collapsed floor joist any day.