Hardwood Floor Subfloor

When nailing down a wood floor the subfloor should be flat to within 1 4 in 10 or 3 16 in 6.

Hardwood floor subfloor.

Floating engineered wood floors can simply be installed directly on osb subfloor the hardwood flooring must be installed crossing the floor joists at a 90 degree angle. Before you install your plywood subfloor first calculate the room s square footage to find out how much flooring you ll need to buy. It is the responsibility of the flooring installer to assess and address substrate flatness before installation. Do this by multiplying the room s length by its width.

Sub floor construction should have expansion areas of their own in the area of 1 8 1 4 between boards or sheets of ply. A subfloor is meant to be flat and level. Use a pry bar to pull up hardwood floors one section at a time or unfasten carpet or laminate and roll it up from one end. Hardwood flooring may be installed straight onto the subfloor with only a sheet of red rosin paper intervening.

Usually manufactured in 4 by 8 foot sheets plywood panels and osb are acceptable subfloors for hardwood flooring as long as they are the proper thickness. Even the slightest imperfections in your subfloor can telegraph into the flooring and result in squeaking buckling and uneven floors. If not your floor covering which is the solid hardwood laminate tile or other exposed flooring that goes on top of the subfloor will never be flat and level this problem can be fixed but it all depends on exactly what kind of uneven subfloor you have. If there is any deflection in the subfloor when walked on it would be advisable to add an additional layer of 3 8 or 1 2 thick plywood underlayment glued and screwed down.

This will expose the subfloor underneath which is where most leveling problems lie. The key to a beautiful long lasting hardwood or laminate floor is a well prepared subfloor. Creating a flat subfloor involves lowering the high spots and raising the low ones. Keep in mind that for mechanically fastened floors osb doesn t hold fasteners as well as plywood so you need to use a thicker material to get.

1 suitable wood flooring. When it comes to hardwood flooring the quality of the installation will be determined by the quality of many things including the choice of subflooring and the condition its in. Hardwood floors do need a flat subfloor surface in order to prevent them from buckling after installation. Installation of a wood floor over the subfloor insinuates acceptance by the flooring installer.

You can leave linoleum or sheet vinyl in place if it s difficult to remove or if removal would damage the sub floor.