My customers child has serious allergies…so out with the carpet and in with hardwood. He has chosen a standard prefinished 2- 1/4″ oak plank which I will install over the existing subflooring–1/2″ plywood covered by 1/4″ masonite. My plan is to rip the carpet and pad, clean and vacume, add some screws to the subfloor, lay 15lb. felt and install the oak.
Is there any risk in leaving the masonite? It is relatively sound.
Can it harbor dustmites or other problems?
Do I need the felt?
Replies
American Lung association has a lot of good info on this stuff. They don't want you to use Tar Paper under the oak but you can use red rosen paper and it does a pretty good job of absorbing the grit and stopping squeaks, which is what we used to use the tar paper for. We switched to rosen paper several years ago and have had no problems with it at all. I don't see any problem with leaving the masonite depending on which pre-finished flooring you are using, no dust mite problems at least, you concern would be nail holding power in a nail-down situation. 1/4" masonite over 1/2" plywood doesn't really give you enough meat to secure the oak to. You might try selling them on some Marmoleum Click flooring from Forbo, that's a floating floor that has very good indoor air quality specs and would not fasten to the subfloor at all. We just used it for the first time in an exercise room because it mops well and has a layer of cork in it that gives a really nice feel under foot. It can look like cork but much nicer surface than cork in my opinion. (We've had big problems with cork wearing prematurely, staining and puckering at the joints even after absolute compliance with manufacturers installation recommendations.