I have a 167-year-old farmhouse which we are fixing up. The floors upstairs are standard wood floorboards. They were under carpet when we bought the place and looked pretty decent when we pulled the carpet. After gutting and rebuilding the upstairs, and pulling some boards to get at electric, they are in rough shape. There are also loose boards, broken boards, and a few remuddle jobs were done by the previous owner where you can look up in a closet, or behind the cover for a flourescent light and see the bottoms of the boards above (in other words, it seems like these closets and homemade light fixtures are sound amplification chambers).
Anyway, the boards are rough, the sound transmission is very high, and we are about to carpet. My initial thought is replace the broken boards, rescrew them all down, and then screw down a new subfloor over the boards to even things out, carpeting over the top of that. With 7’4″ ceilings, I hate to lose even a 1/2″ of height, but it seems like the best option.
Is this a good way to go? Any other ideas?
Thanks, Brian
Replies
If you carpet over boards you'll feel all the joints on your feet. I lived in an old house where that was done. It didn't really bother me, but I don't think I'd do it myself if I wanted to improve the feel of the house.
You could use 1/4" luan plywood to get an even floor. But if sound transmission is a concern I'd recommend 1/2" Homasote. You'd get a flat surface and a fairly good reduction in sound transmission through the floor.
You have to watch heights at the stairs. If the height of the treads varies by more than about 3/8" from one to another you risk a stumbling hazard, so if one of the rooms you are talking about is a hallway at the top of stairs, then the thinner material or none at all is probably going to be safer.
Thanks. Sounds great. I did wonder about the stair issue though. This is the upstairs, and there is a rather steep staircase. You go down the hall from the bedrooms and then hit a U at the end to the top of the staircase. How and/or where would you create some kind of transition from the 1/2" to the 1/4" (or original) level? I certainly don't want to create a tripping hazard. Maybe a very gentle ramp? Or would that look/feel strange?
Thanks again, Brian
That's a situarion where I have always tried to "preserve" the head & foot of the stairs. In your case, you might save the "prettiest" of the boards to make a nice landing for the stairs. Or, you may just can get a floor guy to give you a nice uniform finish for just that area.
If you are carrying a basket of lanudry or something similar, hitting the wood is like the warning track at the baseball diamond. Far better to do that in an island of "landing" proportions rather than the edge of the first step.
A last, or a first, dissimilar step is the most dangerous of stair conditions.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Not knowing your measurements, you could do the bedrooms in 1/2" Homasote, and the hallway in 1/4" luan, if 1/4" is not too high.
I gotta agree with Waynel5! He's giving you the goods!
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Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
Uh-oh! I'd better check what I said.