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Discussion Forum

hardwood(pine) flr over particle board

tyke | Posted in General Discussion on May 30, 2004 02:37am

I just bought a 70’s ranch where i’ve been living in 1/2  of a duplex for 10 years.

I am in the process of opening it back up,it used ti be a single fam res till hte previous owners closed off part and built two bedrooms and 2 full baths.

my new living area is 500 sq. ft. and i have just removed the very old carpet and pad.plan to put down hardwood floor.

my problem,well sort of a problem,is that the whole living area is sub floored with gd particle board.this is over i beleive 1/2″ .so when they built the new rooms they matched the height.i think the particle board is 3/4″ not sure yet as i havent removed any yet.

My questions to you fellows is what do you think about applying hardwood(yellow pine) over said particle board?

my worry is that the nails wont hold as well and may buckle.there is one door that opens to a small screen porch and im going to take out an old rooting bay window and replace it with probably an andersen french door onto another screen porch that i plan to build.I have replaced paricle board floor that got “yes” wet.

i think i should replace  pb with real ply but at todays prices thats around what 300.00 just to bring it up to the same level as the bdrms because i want to run the wood floor throughout.

anybbody have any experience with hardwood over pb.

im probably gonna bite the bullet and replace it.

thanks

 

just another day in paradise

G.E Ely Construction

Ocracoke NC

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Replies

  1. User avater
    IMERC | May 30, 2004 02:55am | #1

    Sharpen yur teeth...

    PB under, over anything or by it's self never works...

    Are you sure it's true PB or could it be OSB, Aspenite or Aventech???

    You could use longer nails and go thru the PB into the ply subfloor if it is ply that you have for a substrate.. Hopefully there's paper of some sort between layers..

    Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming....

                                                                       WOW!!!   What a Ride!

    1. tyke | May 31, 2004 04:31am | #10

      built in the 70's. yep it's paricle board (sawdust pressed together and glued.

      i think i might just it as shelves in the shop.it looks brand new.

      tyke

      just another day in paradise

      G.E. Ely Construction

      Ocracoke NC

      1. User avater
        IMERC | May 31, 2004 04:49am | #13

        Set yur nailing schedual to hit the floor joists.

        Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming....                                                                   WOW!!!   What a Ride!

        1. tyke | May 31, 2004 07:39am | #14

          Thanks for all the input guys.

          tyke

          just another day in paradise

          G.E. Ely Construction

          Ocracoke NC

  2. fdampier5 | May 30, 2004 03:50am | #2

    What do you intend to install next week?

         Particle board has practically zero holding strength, only slightly higher if it's OSB..

      pine flooring wears like well pine, another words it's not terribly durable although some versions of pine are better than others (such as old growth long leaf yellow) 

      What i would be inclined to do is find out what sort of depth you have to work with and see if you could use old fashioned car siding or something similar..  

    1. User avater
      Sphere | May 30, 2004 04:25am | #4

      30 lb. felt, and longer nails. Renail the pb, as ya go. It'll work as long as it stays dry..that will be the challange on the island..hurricane what?

      If it comes down to it, which I think it will..use ring shank galv. 6d's (or 7) and ..yup HAND nail it.  Ya may need to pilot the tongue and face junction..and wedge block or clamp to pull it up tite..depends on the stock ya got.

      MAZE siding nails..the cedar "splitless" are what ya want.

      gimme a roof for a week an I'll come do it.. 

      Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

      Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

      1. User avater
        IMERC | May 30, 2004 04:43am | #5

        Hook serrated...More better...

        Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming....                                                                   WOW!!!   What a Ride!

      2. tyke | May 30, 2004 09:04am | #9

        Thanks for the offer sphere.

        maybe you could give me a hand? but i can and will do it and probably meself.

        and the more i think about it particle board is best used for landfill and not much else.I had just as well pull out the nail puller as use this s%*t as a sub floor if im gonna sleep at night.

        I dont even use this stuff as countertop backer for laminate,why the heck am i even thinking about using it under strip flooring.

        it,s a wonder what few hours thinking will do for you.

        just another day in paradise

    2. tyke | May 31, 2004 04:32am | #11

      what is old fashion car siding?

      like is on Woodys?

      1. User avater
        IMERC | May 31, 2004 04:47am | #12

        Remember how the old wooden RR box cars looked and were built???

        That kind of siding...

        Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming....                                                                   WOW!!!   What a Ride!

      2. fdampier5 | May 31, 2004 04:23pm | #15

        Car siding is thick  boards with Tongue  and groove (basically)

  3. ed2 | May 30, 2004 04:22am | #3

    sounds like you have particleboard underlayment over 1/2" plywood subfloor     if ply is underneath, demo the pb and install the wood floor over the ply     pb not a suitable nailbase  for wood flooring     if 1/2" ply weak anywhere, put blocking between joists in weak areas     

  4. User avater
    Dinosaur | May 30, 2004 05:40am | #6

    Instead of T&G yellow pine strip flooring, why don't you put down wide board flooring and screw and plug it? Use screws long enough to get down into the joists; chalk-line the joist locations under the subfloor before you start and you'll have no problems. Get a tapered 'Snug Plug' plug cutter from Lee Valley to cut your plugs; you won't believe how much better that works than a standard straight plug. It's like night and day.

    http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?SID=&ccurrency=1&page=32320&category=1,180,42288

    Dinosaur

    'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?

    1. tyke | May 30, 2004 08:55am | #8

      yeah i thought about calling lumber liquidaters and seeing what they have in a wide flooring. i put down some heart pine from (supposedly the sears tower) a few years ago that was wide and worked pretty good

      just another day in paradise

      G.E. Ely Construction

      Ocracoke NC

  5. IanDG | May 30, 2004 08:03am | #7

    Since sub-floors in Australia are commonly 3/4" particle board I have laid thousands of sq. metres of both hardwood and pine strip flooring and parquet block over this material.

    The strip flooring was blind-nailed every 16", with a bead of construction adhesive -- Liquid Nails -- every 16".

    In 14 years I never had a single failure.

    IanDG



    Edited 5/30/2004 1:05 am ET by IanDG

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