I WISH I had known about this forum six months ago.

I just laid around 1,300 sq ft of reclaimed maple gym floor. It is 33/32. After pulling all the nails and planing the old finish off, I would bring the wood inside the room where it was to be laid. In some cases the wood sat there for a week or more, in other cases hours. I did the vast majority of the laying since November. We haven't had a winter. Majority of the days I have had the windows and doors open during the day so what was weather outside was the weather inside.

To my question, I had to remove up to 6 layers of old linoleum. The vast majority of it came up with some elbow grease. But, I had entire sections that I couldn't get the bottom layer up. Not even an air chisel could get it up without tearing the subfloor to pieces. I probably screwed up, but I just went right over the bottom layer. My concern is with the small area of incline where the maple lifted up onto the bottom linoleum layer. I am hoping that when I sand the floor, the areas in question will sand flat and no one will ever notice. But, I am second guessing myself now and hoping that this isn't something I will regret forever.

I also had some subfloor issues. In the laundry room, the center of the small space was a good 3/8 lower than the surrounding walls. When I laid that room, I really had to force the maple to take the shape of the subfloor. I know I should have replaced the subfloor and worked to level the joists, but I didn't. How big of a problem could develop because the subfloor in that area?

First, I gotta hand it to you to take on such an endeavor. Dealing with recycled flooring, six layers of lino and uneven subfloors. Talk about a challenge! You know, you can only do the best you can and sometimes, it isn't perfect. Perfection is what we strive for but sometimes, it is unattainable. Lets talk about wood subfloors for a sec. For the last three months, EVERY job I've done has had MAJOR subfloor problems in term of being flat; forget trying to be level. These floors are dropping 1&1/2" in 4 ft. How the hell can I fix that without causing other issues like transitions to other floors, appliances, cabinets, etc. So the answer, unfortunately, is a comprimise. Raise the low spots up as high as possible without causing a major problem with the transitions to other floors. And grind the snot out of the high spots without sanding through the subfloors. It's been tough and it's been on every job. On this last one, had the builder called me in before he set $40,000.00 worth of custom made and finished cabinets, I could have gone under the house and cut down some of the posts to lower the subfloors. But NOOOO; he wait's till after the cabs are done then calls for a subfloor inspection. I'm not gonna tell him he has to remove all the cabinets so I can flaten the floors. So I just do the best I can. Raise a little there, sand a lot over here. It's better than before. Is it perfect, no! Wished it was and could be but under the circumstances, it's as good as it's gonna get.
So what's this got to do with your situation you're wondering! That you gave it your best shot. I think you can feather that incline so it will be less noticeable when you go to sand it but that is kinda tricky for a novice. Yes, and you want to fix the subfloor problems as well as you can before laying over them. I've had to do the same thing you're talking about; bending the wood just to engage the T&G because the subfloor is uneven. Once it's down and nailed, it usually stays there without any problems but it makes sanding more difficult if the floors are uneven. Anyway, as I said, hat's off to you for the effort you taken so far. Not many would have done what your doing. Post pics when it's done!

Thanks. I wasn't looking for a warm fuzzy, but it was what I needed. I spent at least six months doing this. I can't sand until March and can't finish until May (with proper sanding). I don't think I will ever use recycled wood again. The actual laying only took a few days by myself total. It was the prep work. Each bundle was about an hour of work to pull the nails and plane it at least twice.

C'mon, tell me you've done this before. Looks like it; very nice!