A subfloor refers to the strong base found below floorings that helps to maintain the rigidity of your floors and walls. When the subfloor damages, it would no longer be strong enough to carry out its duties. In as much as it is not the most important aspect of floor support(important parts include beams, posts as well as joists), it does a good job too in the aspect of maintaining floor rigidity.
 The damages on a subfloor might be as a result of waterlogging around the area especially shower areas and bad walls. Most times you could get rid of the subfloor without touching the wall.
Tips on how to remove subfloor below walls
Getting rid of a subfloor without touching the walls can be very strenuous since the subfloor is situated and secured below the wall. However, it is very much possible, all you need to do is to give your time and effort to the work and exercises some patience.
- Firstly only half of the subfloor can be pulled off. If you want to get rid of the entire subfloor, you have to remove the wall too.
- To be on the safe side, carefully remove just 14 inches
- If the subfloor is rotten instead, it is very likely you might need to change other areas apart from the subfloor since the rot spreads out to other areas close to the floor
Necessary equipment/tools required for removing subfloor
- Flat pry bar
- Utility knife
- Circular saw
- Oscillating multi-tool
- Metal blade
- Hand saw
- Drill
Procedures
- If you are working around an area connected to electricity, it is advisable to turn off all sources of water that might be connected to the area before you start removing the subfloor.
- Carefully remove all obstructions such as the baseboards using the flat pry bar and keep them close to the area.
- There might be drywall on the flooring. If so, carefully cut out half of the required width.
- Before removing the subfloor, carefully pull off the floor covering on top of the subfloor around the area you are working on. If possible extend a little bit so as to create more space for you to work. While most floor coverings do not need much effort to pull out as you could just lift them off, some require cutting.
- Most floors usually have an underlayment in between the subfloor and the flooring. If you are using laminate flooring foam, carefully cut out a segment using the utility knife. In the case of Luan underlayment board, carefully use the circular saw to cut out the appropriate segment without cutting the item under it.
- Fasten the metal blade to the Oscillating multi-tool and put on eye and ear protection materials. Then switch on the equipment and carefully remove the nails that run down to the base of the wall.
- Use the circular saw to cut out the subfloor at the appropriate depth without touching the materials under the subfloor.
- In case the subfloor is damaged severely, you might pull off the rest of the segments of the subfloor and carefully remove them.