Installing Solid Hardwood Floors Over Particle Board

But the additional height of both the particle board and the new flooring may pose a problem with doors and appliances.

Installing solid hardwood floors over particle board.

Last year we installed solid oak hardwood floor in our main bedroom and family room. They are available in 3 4 inch thickness as well as low profile styles that are 5 16 to 5 8 inch thick which are a good or installing over existing flooring. It is particle board and not osb. Hardwood flooring that is fastened by any method whether it be mechanical fasteners or glue should not go over particle board.

Solid wood floors should not be installed in basements or below grade. If this type of underlayment is present it will have to be removed when planning to install a nail or glue down hardwood floor. Nails won t grip the particle board but screws do a better job. 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. The reason floating installations work and are the best suited for installation over a particleboard sub floor is because a floating floor is not secured to the sub floor in any area. Using a standard nail gun to install the floor was out of the question particle board isn t structurally sound enough to bite nails. To our dismay when we ripped up the old carpet we found that the whole subfloor was covered with particle board.

Start with a small area so you can reach across wet glue without stepping or kneeling in it. Make a line of glue the length. Installing solid hardwood floors over particleboard plain and simple answer is no. Like unfinished hardwood floors the prefinished types typically have tongue and groove edges on all sides.

Spread flooring adhesive on the particleboard with your flooring trowel. When thinking about installing wood flooring in a situation where the only subfloor is particle board you really only have one option. 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. If desired particle board underlayment can be left in place if a floating engineered wood floor or a floating laminate floor system is going to be installed over it.

Use a thick piece of plywood to help shore up your particle board subfloor at least 3 4 inch thick. I pulled up all the carpet and found 3 4 particle board over 1 2 plywood board subfloor underneath the carpet.