We have recently decided to replace our kitchen/morning room linoleum with the same hardwood we had installed in our dining room. (3/4" Mohawk solid oak). The measurer/estimator is also the installer for this company. He says that the prep work needed to install this floor is not worth what it would cost us. Apparently we have a very uneven subfloor where the builder used double floor joists. This has caused areas in the floor where the installer would have to rip off the subfloor and sand down the top of the joists because of the hump they cause. Has anyone else encountered this? Are there other solutions to this problem? Should I get another opinion?

Not worth the cost?? I guess it depends who is paying the bill?? He may not know how to bid it and put a dollar amount on the serious project.

It really depends how much you value what you want done, if it will be worth it or not.

Uneven subfloors are common. As an installer, I encounter this quite often to varying degrees. The correct repair can only be determined by an on-site inspection. Removing the subfloor to plane down high joists is one way. And in your case, MAY be the best way. It is always prudent to get other professional opinions and estimates.

I used the same material and had a high-point in the hallway. There was no way I was going to attempt pulling the T&G (tongue & groove) there considering I'd be cutting mid-sheet with no guarantee I'd be able to get another piece back down, blah blah blah.

Anyway, on the psudo-advice of some of the guys here, I chose to build up the low areas with extra layers of tar paper. I'm sure if I put a marble on the high spot it'd roll down, but other than that you really can't tell.

But I'm a Do It Yourselfer. I don't know that I'd pay someone to do the same thing.

??? I am having a hard time getting my head around this problem. If the subfloor irregularity is due to the joists, you can get to them pretty easily. Once they are exposed, it is a pretty low tech endeavor to get them right. Most of these sorts of issues can be fixed by stacking up material on the subfloor. The only time I level joists is when I see a crown in the floor that makes building up the rest an impractical mode of attack.

I can usually take 1/2 inch off of a high joist with a jack plane in just a few passes.