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I’ve gotten a lot of conflicting info on the following which hopefully you all can clear up – or at least add a whole lot of more for me to chew on…
I’ve got 3/4″ Sturdifloor to which I want to lay 3/4″ strip oak. Problem is that if I put the oak directly on the Sturdifloor it will be a little too low to match up cleanly with the tiled areas. My first thought was to slap down 1/4″ or 3/8″ underlayment. So my questions are:
1. Is using a thin underlayment under strip oak a good idea? My main fear is that it somehow diminishes the holding strength of the floor nails and I end up with a squeaky floor.
2. Can I use luan as underlayment, or should I stick to underlayment grade plywood?
3. What’s the best way to attach it? Some have said to nail it on the joists, some have said nail it off the joists. Some have said screw it down. Any experiences with these methods?
4. Shoud it be glued or not? I would have expected that it should be glued but I’ve heard that gluing can actually cause problems.
Any help you all can provide would be greatly appreciated 😉
Replies
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Rob what are you using under the tile ? If it's 1/2'' cement backerboard and typical floor tile the two shouldnt be more than 1/16 '' to 1/8'' different in height . If you lay and finish your wood first you may be able to fudge the height of the tile a little at any transitions with a little extra thinset. Chuck
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Chuck - this house is a mixed bag of tile - I've got 6 areas with different tile, some on Durock some on mud. The Durock will dress-out to about 7/8", the mud to about 1 1/4" to 1 1/2". The mudded areas are all baths and will have thresholds to take up the difference, but the tile man says that it would look better if the wood was slightly above the tile in the other areas. The 3/8" underlayment would just about split the difference between the Durock and mudded areas.
Additionally, I have an alterior motive. I've got radiant heeting hoses stapled to the underside of the Sturdifloor. If I add 3/8" underlayment, I should have sufficient thickness to prevent the tails from puncturing the hose. The last thing I need is a few hundred leaks... (For those of you who are thinking what kind of idiot would be putting hardwood over radiant heat, well, according to my wife, I'm that kind of idiot. I'm using quatersawn oak, so with any luck I should minimize the size of the inevitable cracks...)
I've talked to a few other people who seem to think I won't have a problem using the underlayment, either luan or plywood.
The only thing left to solve is the adhesive. I've had a suggestion to use a non-hardening adhesive and trowel it on. This seems to be the best idea yet, but I'm not sure... Thanks, Rob
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I've gotten a lot of conflicting info on the following which hopefully you all can clear up - or at least add a whole lot of more for me to chew on...
I've got 3/4" Sturdifloor to which I want to lay 3/4" strip oak. Problem is that if I put the oak directly on the Sturdifloor it will be a little too low to match up cleanly with the tiled areas. My first thought was to slap down 1/4" or 3/8" underlayment. So my questions are:
1. Is using a thin underlayment under strip oak a good idea? My main fear is that it somehow diminishes the holding strength of the floor nails and I end up with a squeaky floor.
2. Can I use luan as underlayment, or should I stick to underlayment grade plywood?
3. What's the best way to attach it? Some have said to nail it on the joists, some have said nail it off the joists. Some have said screw it down. Any experiences with these methods?
4. Shoud it be glued or not? I would have expected that it should be glued but I've heard that gluing can actually cause problems.
Any help you all can provide would be greatly appreciated ;-)
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Rob - We've had good luck with ordinary wood glue diluted slightly and troweled on. Divergert staples help to hold it down. Someone will curse you when reno time comes and the underlay has to come up.