Replacing a subfloor under a wall is important when the subfloor is not any longer structurally sound. The subfloor is that the solid base underneath the ground covering that you simply depend upon for the steadiness of the ground and of walls. it isn't the most support system—that's the work of beams, posts, and joists—but it does its share of the work.
The subfloor could be rotted out by water—often the case with walls behind shower controls or walls under poorly functioning windows. In some cases, you'll remove parts of the subfloor without having to require down the wall.
Wall and Floor System Basics
Walls and floors are interconnected, creating a structurally tight system. From bottom to top, the system will look somewhat like this:
Joist: A joist may be a long, horizontal piece of wood, usually a two-by-eight or two-by-ten, that holds up the flooring.
Subfloor: The subfloor is nailed to the highest of the joist. Often 19/32- to 1 1/8-inch thick plywood or OSB, the subfloor might run continuously across the joist or two sections of subfloor may meet on a joist.
Underlayment: Some floors have a skinny underlayment that helps to smooth the subfloor for the ground covering. Not all floors will have this.
Floor Covering: the ground covering could be laminate flooring, vinyl tile, luxury vinyl plank, or the other sort of floor.
Bottom Wall Plate: rock bottom plate is that the bottom-most a part of the wall. it's usually an 8-foot-long two-by-four. Wall studs are nailed vertically to rock bottom plate . The plate itself is nailed (downward) into the subfloor, with nails even extending into the joist.
All items apart from the underlayment and floor cover rest under and are nailed to rock bottom plate .
Removing the Subfloor Under Walls
Removing subflooring while the wall is in situ is difficult because the subfloor is trapped under the wall. the method is analogous to sliding out a book nailed to the bottom while an individual is standing thereon . It are often done, but with some effort and patience.
You can only remove a part of the subfloor. to get rid of subfloor across a whole wall, you'll got to remove the wall.
A safe width to get rid of is 14 inches since this represents the span between two joints or two studs.
When you encounter rotten subfloor, you regularly find that the rot extends to the wall or other parts of the ground . So, be prepared to exchange quite just the subfloor.
