Hello, my question is about preparation of surface for laminate flooring. I want to put a laminate floor in the kitchen instead of 20+ yr old linoleum. The linoleum was so old (or the glue was so strong) that after stripping, a rather thin layer of felt, or something like it, remained glued to the plywood in a few patches (as in the photo). These patches can only be removed off the plywood with a chisel: they are thin and really hard because of the glue. Should I rent a sander to sand off the rest or just leaving them would do for laminate floor? The floor is otherwise flat. Would appreciate any suggestion. Thanks, h.

Do not sand;this floor is a good canidate for asbestos fibers.You are in luck however,as you will be applying a pad type underlayment that goes with your laminate.Don't disturb too much of the old felt.Paint it to seal it if it worries you.

You could have left the old covering and put the laminate over it. Not crazy of laminate in a kitchen, hope you don't have any leaks! If you want to use some leveler do so or leave what you have, use the foam underlay and put the floor down.

I thought that because the linoleum only covered the area free of kitchen cabinets it had to be stripped, so that laminate could be laid over the entire kitchen. Thanks for suggesting the underlayment types.