Installing Hardwood Flooring On Particle Board

Don t mop the floor as it can absorb the water and damage the particleboard.

Installing hardwood flooring on particle board.

Typically used for engineereed hardwood staple down installation works well with 3 8 5 8 inch flooring. Last year we installed solid oak hardwood floor in our main bedroom and family room. Try not to cut into the joists or blocking so set your skillsaw depth carefully to 7 8. When thinking about installing wood flooring in a situation where the only subfloor is particle board you really only have one option.

A floating install is the only way to go over it and i don t know of any 3 4 solid on the market that you can float. Use a thick piece of plywood to help shore up your. Particle board underlayment has the appearance of oatmeal but is actually made up of tiny wood particles glued and pressed into 4 x 8 sheets. Begin with the first row pre drilling holes.

Install the remaining lines of hardwood across your particleboard subfloor spreading more glue for each line. Next using your hammer insert a nail 1 inch from the wall and about every 4 inches along the board. The reason you can only float a floor over particle board is because nails won t hold in the particle board and glue will ruin the particle board. Hardwood floors also help cut down on dust mites.

Sheet vinyl can be installed over an old hardwood floor but a layer of 1 4 inch or thicker underlayment has to be installed over the old hardwood flooring first. The particle board does not run under the walls. It is particle board and not osb. Pull up the existing flooring and baseboards in the room you are working in.

We want to install either laminate or hardwood flooring throughout most of our home. That option is floating a floor over top of the subfloor. I pulled up all the carpet and found 3 4 particle board over 1 2 plywood board subfloor underneath the carpet. The home is about 35 years old.

Stop when you have about 5 feet of flooring remaining to be laid or when you don t. Hardwood flooring that is fastened by any method whether it be mechanical fasteners or glue should not go over particle board. Maintenance is easy for a pre finished hardwood floor keep grit off of the surface by sweeping regularly and use a flooring cleaning kit alcohol based and spray on and wipe off with a damp cloth. Using a standard nail gun to install the floor was out of the question particle board isn t structurally sound enough to bite nails.

Here s how to install flooring using the staple down method. Particle board underlayment.