??? about sub-floor and laminate flooring

[mikepags]

so I am remodeling a small house I have had for a few years and the kitchen, both bathrooms and one of the guest rooms all had vinyl/ linoleum installed.........my plan is to do the entire house (except bathrooms) in a mid grade laminate floor..........my problem is that the guest room and kitchen (and bathrooms, but they wont be an issue) have 1/4 inch plywood on top of the normal subfloor. .....

I assume I only have 2 options 1. add 1/4inch plywood to the rest of the house to level all floors which is going to be like 40 sheets and another day or so of work or 2. removing the approx 400 sq ft of exisitng 1/4 inch plywood so that the orginal subfloor is now completely level, which is going to be a real bitch b/c the kitchen cabinets sit on top of it and we just refinished (sprayed oil based paint) them

there isn't some trick that I am missing like double padding the rest of the house to make up for that 1/4 inch difference is there?

[Slab Daddy]

Your standard sub floor is made up of 3/4 tong and groove plywood. As a general rule....Most manufactures will not stand behind their product unless you have a min. of 1 inch.
I was in building const. for 31yrs and always put a layer of 1/4 inch on top....That not only gives you a smoother surface for flooring but brings up up to the 1 inch Min.
I know it is a little more trouble but if it was me....I would opt for putting down more 1/4 inch plus it will only add to the R value of your floor....
Hope this helps

[RoadrashPaul]

Might be a cheap (redneck) way of doing it. But are you planning on running the laminate floor exactly the same way all through the house? If not just put in thresholds under the doors where the plywood stops. That way you will probably not notice the 1/4" difference going in and out of the rooms.

I always do this when I lay hardwood. IMO it looks better and you can break up the rooms from the main house. Can even use a different color or run it a different direction to break it up.

Hope this helps.