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I have ripped up the carpet in the master bedroom and found that between the sheets of plywood there is cold air blowing in because part of the floor is over the garage.

I want to pull up the nailed down sheets of plywood to add insulation and then I guess I want to screw it down.

What tools do I need to make pulling up the plywood easy? What screws should I use to secure it back after adding insulation?

(The 2nd question is more geared to another one I am about to post on how to remove the squeaks from a wooden floor)

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    How big are the gaps between the sheets? If they're small enough, you could use caulk to seal the gaps, which would be a lot easier than trying to pull up the plywood and reinstall it. – Niall C.♦ Jan 31 '11 at 17:32
  • they are small, but i want to insulate while i have the subfloor exposed already. – kacalapy Jan 31 '11 at 18:16
  • is there a finished celing in the garage? If not you can insulate from the garage and not pull up the plywood. Also, since you are right above the garage, use this oppertunity to make sure there is a good vapor block between the bed and the garage so you don't get exaust gasses in your bedroom. – boxed-dinners Jan 31 '11 at 18:50
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    If you don't have a 5/8" fire rated ceiling in the garage that is totally air locked, we got a whole other situation to talk about. Please describe the construction before I recommend anything. A layer of foam insulation between subfloors is very uncommon and will effect floor height dramatically. Give us more info before you decide on anything. – shirlock homes Jan 31 '11 at 23:41
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You should be able to pull them up with a 12" long prybar and possibly a crowbar (3' to 4' long), if it is stubborn. Most that I have seen are put in with nails only. You may also need to have a circular saw handy in case some of the subfloor runs underneath a wall (in this case, you would want to make a clean cut of the subfloor piece, so you can remove the part that you need and leave the part under the wall intact).

As for reattaching the sheets, you should use 3" screws.

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    if you down vote please leave a comment as to why. – kacalapy Feb 1 '11 at 14:45

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