Hi,
I’m an independent carpenter/ woodworker in northern NY State. I was recently called about a flooring job.The lady wants to replace all of her carpeting with prefinished oak strip flooring. Now I don’t do flooring every day, nor is it one of my favorite duties, but this time of year in the Adirondacks, anything that gets you indoors for awhile is welcomed. Anyway she and her husband pulled up all the carpet, ( 1000 sq ft ) and found 5/8″ particleboard underlayment. The subfloor is T&G plywood. The folks at the flooring store in the city told them it was O.K. to nail right through it. I told them that the ” sawdust board ” needed to be removed, that I didn’t feel it was a proper nail base for 3/4″ hardwood, and that I wouldn’t guarantee the installation.
Anybody got any thoughts on this? Thanx for any input!
Nlbndr
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Replies
I assume the strip flooring is 3/4" thick? How do the heights work out, will the doors still clear if the particle board is kept?
Yeah, as I stated in my first post, the new flooring is to be 3/4" hardwood strip, probably oak. I discussed the height issues with the owners, but evidently the thought of taking up all that sawdust board is more of an issue to them.
Nlbndr
The folks at the floor store should be shot. If finished height is an issue, you could propose to add an aditional layer of underlayment ply, properly screwed down. Just be sure to use long enough nails for the finished flooring.
I'll probably get chastised for that, but the particleboard sure has to go.
"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
do you like callbacks? i dont.and thats why i wouldnt leave the paricle board. you know what happens to that stuff. and i dont even know if they make 3 1/2 '' flooring nails to get to the subfloor. sorry kind of ranting here.
i just dont like paricle board at all. replaced way to much.
tyke
Just another day in paradise
I sub work for a hardwood installer at times. ( I am a trim carp.) We often have to splice onto door jambs to fix the 1/2 inch height difference after removing the particle board. What is the reasoning for removing it? Is it an issue of strenght with the nails?