Do I need to replace these cracked subfloor planks?
opayq
| Posted in General Discussion on
Redoing the kitchen, including old cracking tile in my 1960 house in New England.
There was clearly some kind of flooding incident in the past. Some old swollen particleboard remained, some had been replaced with new plywood, some old plywood under where the tiles used to be.
In the picture, I’ve take off the newer piece of plywood and found the subfloor with some cracks in it.
Can I just take off all these random pieces of underlayment, screw the subfloor to the joists (floor squeaks), and put some good quality underlayment on top and call it a day? Or do I need to replace these subfloor boards?
Welcome opinions on what underlayment to use – planning to do a marmoleum or cork floor.
Replies
Strip it back to the subfloor. What I have done in some kitchen remodels is cut the subfloor back to with in 4" of wall; remove all subfloor in the kitchen; block under the subfloor so you have a nailing surface for new plywood; predrill in remaining subfloor and screw subfloor to blocking; figure out layout of plywood and block appropriately; laydown new plywood and screw to joists and blocking. Now you have a solid subfloor for whatever finish floor you want.
Yep.... I fell down the stairs last week and was kind hoping I could get away without replacing all the subfloor...but I think that's right. I'll keep you posted.