7/16 OSB for underlayment?

[C Scott McDonald]

I am in the process of remodeling the house and am getting ready to put down some laminate floors. The house was a rental for a long time and the floors have a lot of dog urine spots. It also has some low spots too. To address this I was thinking i would use a resin self leveling compound as the area is small maybe 2'x5". Then cover the whole floor with 7/16 OSB as a new base for the laminate floor.

I picked the OSB as it is cheap really and to give the floor a little more rigidity. I am not attached to the idea. There anything better? This a train wreck coming down the tracks?

Thanks,
Scott

[Dan Rude]

Make sure to seal the floor with shellac or Bulls eye sealer, this will seal any of the smell that might come up.
The other thing to use a friend of mine used in his basement is rigid foam 1/2 in or so. This takes the place of the thin foam base and provides insulation too. Good Luck.

[Josiah Bartlett]

For laminate it wont matter, but some glue down products frown on osb and particle board. I would put felt paper between the layers to cut sqeaks.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Make sure to seal the floor with shellac or Bulls eye sealer, this will seal any of the smell that might come up.

+1 to that.

Or simply cut out the damaged areas and replace them.

Which brings up - how much of an area are we talking about & what type of floor is it?
Damaged area's of hardwood floors are pretty easy to remove & replace.

Lumber Liquidators and Home Depot both carry 2.5" unfinished T&G in red oak. It runs between $40 and $60 for a bundle of assorted lengths.
A track saw and a Fein Multimaster and a 16 ga nailer make the job a whole lot faster and easier - but - a circ saw and a hammer and chisel are about all you need.

Have you considered repair instead of replace?

[Jeremy Killingbeck]

Scott,

If you are going to use OSB instead of underlayment you might check the warranty on you flooring you are purchasing. A lot of manufactures will not cover the flooring warranty if you do not have a quality underlayment under it. I would think that a quality underlayment would be much less likely to warp or bow than OSB would.