The person I’m hiring to install wood floor is insisting I leave the old floor in. I want to rip it out because it squeaks to much and I want to screw the subfloor (3/4 dia. planks) to the joists using perhaps 2″ decking screws. The old floor is the original 3/8″ oak planks which is about 60 yrs old. The installer says I can do this without ripping the floor, just screw them from the top floor. Would this be just as effective?
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your way is much better but you can do it the installers way too...
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!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Rip it out.
DG/Builder
bono70,
If you rip it out what will you blame when the floor squeeks after the new floor is put in?
(Oh it will squeek, trust me)
Personally I like a nice squeeky old wooden floor. it shows character and a effective burglar alarm..
{you can quiet it down a bit by sprinkling talcum powder liberally where it squeeks and bouncing up and diown on the floor to get it to work it's way in}
The fault lies in the fact that all houses are built with new wood..
New wood eventually shrinks when it finally dries about a year later. Now you don't have the same fit and all the fasteners are loose..
if you screw everything down well paying particular attention to the connection between the subflooring and the floor joists you might get a few years of relative quiet.. but remember wood isn't steel. It shrinks and swells depending on the moisture in the air (or dryness) 200 year old wood still shrinks and swells so don't expect wood to behave like plastic...
Winter heating cycle will dry things out and spring rains with summer humidity will cause the wood to swell. how many cycles of that before the wood again gets it's way?