Laminate on uneven surface

I want to equip some rooms in my house with laminate flooring. Until now, there was mostly carpet there, which was fixed to the old floorboards with plenty of glue. When I tear up the carpet, most of the glue remains on the floorboards. It would save a lot of work and time if I could lay the laminate directly on the glue residues. However, the floor in this condition is quite uneven. Would the laminate be able to withstand that in the long run?

Hello Arndt, laminate is not flexible; it would not withstand an uneven subfloor – it would warp, the joints would open, and it would creak and grind. You can only remove the adhesive from the floorboards with great effort; it basically only works with a floor sander and a lot of dust, which – depending on the adhesive – can be unhealthy.

This idea of simply laying the laminate over the adhesive residues is absurd. Anyone who deals with it must know that laminate requires a smooth and dust-free substrate. Anything else is a wasted effort.

That's exactly how I see it too. Fast and cheap is not possible here. All adhesive residues must be removed even if it takes time and some effort. Anything else is double the work.

Okay, I agree. I would fill the surface so that there is a flat subfloor. The laminate will then also adhere well to it. It is also clear that all remnants of the old carpet must be removed beforehand. Otherwise, filling doesn’t make any sense.

I know this from a previous rental apartment, and there we also wanted to lay laminate on a wooden floor. This wooden floor was also uneven, and everyone advised us against it. So we filled the uneven spots, and then panels were laid on top. Now the laminate could be laid and it looked good too.