I just finished a complete gut and remodel of my kitchen and it is finished out to the drywall. Prior to installing my cabinets, I am going to lay the floor. I have a problem however. My home was built in 1973 and the subfloor is 1/2″plywood throughout. The condition of the subfloor is poor. The dining room portion of which is now part of the kitchen had a 3/4″ x 2 1/2″ oak hard wood floor and the kitchen area had a 1/4″ plywood overlay that was covered with vinyl. All of the floors in my home are the same oak that was in the dining room over the same subfloor material and they do squeek.
The new floor is a 3/4″ x 4″ sycoria (SP?) similar to maple. Can I get away whith going over the existing subfloor. By re-screwing the existing subfloor, I have eliminated all of the squeeking, however portion of the floor have completely delaminated to the point where you can actually see my basement. I assume the subfloor was exposed to the weather for some perior of time before the home was enclosed based upon its condition.
If I do replace the existing sub-floor, I don’t want to increase its thickness as I will no longer have a seemless transition from the old floor to the new, thus I would pull-up 1/2″ ply and replace it with 1/2″ ply. By the way, the mfg. recomends a 3/4″sub-floor.
What are my options and what are the pit falls of going over the old subfloor?
Replies
What you have bnow sounds totally unacceptable for a subfloor. To my knowledge, nothing less than 5/8" has ever been acceptable
Use 5/8" Advantec subfloor.
Transition at threshold to other room with a bevel edge piece.
If you go over 1/2", you would have no choice but to run the finished flooring perpendicular to the joists, and accept the possibility of an undesireable outcome.
but there is no way i would leave what you describe now.
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Why would you overlay bad plywood? It's not going to get any better.
And if the mfgr requires 3/4" sub-floor, why would you consider anything less? If you use 1/2" ply and have a problem with the wood flooring, you can kiss your warranty goodbye.
Pull up the old 1/2" ply, and glue and screw new 3/4" subflooring so you can do the job right. The kitchen can't be that big ... what do you need, about 4 sheets of ply?
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Thanks for the input. I dry layed some of the flooring last night and played around with some shims and realized that I am going to end up with nothing but problems down the road. Unfortunately its a big room, 24' x 14' so its going to be an all day job. As for the material, I am going to go with mfg recomended 3/4" ply and do it right.
Make sure you use underlayment grade ply.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Good that you're going with the 3/4................Also in the rest of the house with squeaky floors, if you can get to the joists from below, you can put some shims in from below where the subfloor is conneted to the joists.
That should take care of a lot of the squeaking......I spent a day doing it at my place, and it is a ton betterWhen in doubt, get a bigger hammer!
Regarding the new subfloor, should I use T&G? I am going to glue it. Should I nail or screew the flooring. I know if I don't use T&G, I need to space each sheet an 1/8". Any other advice?
Also, for convenience I will get the ply from Home Depot. Am I safe with any 3/4" exterior grade underlayment grade ply?
The t&g takes the place of blocking under the unsupported plywood seams between joists. No block or t&g = flexy floor at every seam = oops!
Rated subfloor is not the same as underlayment. The plywood which you purchase should be rated "Sturd-I-Floor" by the APA and this term will appear in the APA grade stamp on every sheet.
Our local Lowes always stocks it, HD on and off.
In order to avoid squeaks, glue generously with subfloor adhesive and nail with 8d ring shank nails - I guess you could screw it but it seems like a lot of extra work.
Jim
Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
Agree with JT, except I always glue & screw.
HD and Lowes both usually carry T&G ply and osb that would work. I realize you have a big area, but spend a few extra bucks per sheet and get the best material.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Thanks for everyone's comments. I pulled up the old subfloor and replaces it with 3/4" T&G rated sub, nailed and glued. Not a fun project nor was it cheep, but the hardwood floor is going in with out a hitch and it feels nice and solid.
Thanks everyone!
We knew it would, you won't be sorry for the extra time and $$ in a few years.
The only long term problem may be that the new floor makes the rest of the house seem shabby -- another month another project.
Jim
Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
I had a similar problem (1/2" subfloor) so I took the whole house down, and added a 2nd layer of 1/2", glued and screwed. Then I put down gorgeous wide plank heart pine flooring. I had to rebuild the house first though, added a second story, bumped it out in the front and back a little and ..... 12 months later.. voila', sturdy floor.
Boy - you really took the long way around the block...LOL
A weekend project gone awry.