Installing Hardwood Flooring On Particle Board

Use a skillsaw to cut through the particle board 1 1 2 from the walls use a sawzall or something similar to finish cuts.

Installing hardwood flooring on particle board.

Typically used for engineereed hardwood staple down installation works well with 3 8 5 8 inch flooring. That option is floating a floor over top of the subfloor. Hardwood flooring that is fastened by any method whether it be mechanical fasteners or glue should not go over particle board. To our dismay when we ripped up the old carpet we found that the whole subfloor was covered with particle board.

Stop when you have about 5 feet of flooring remaining to be laid or when you don t. Last year we installed solid oak hardwood floor in our main bedroom and family room. The particle board does not run under the walls. I pulled up all the carpet and found 3 4 particle board over 1 2 plywood board subfloor underneath the carpet.

Don t mop the floor as it can absorb the water and damage the particleboard. 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. When thinking about installing wood flooring in a situation where the only subfloor is particle board you really only have one option. Try not to cut into the joists or blocking so set your skillsaw depth carefully to 7 8.

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. 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. We want to install either laminate or hardwood flooring throughout most of our home. Use a thick piece of plywood to help shore up your.

It is particle board and not osb. It s best to vacuum the particleboard first to help the glue adhere. 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. Next using your hammer insert a nail 1 inch from the wall and about every 4 inches along the board.

Using a standard nail gun to install the floor was out of the question particle board isn t structurally sound enough to bite nails. Pull up the existing flooring and baseboards in the room you are working in. Install the remaining lines of hardwood across your particleboard subfloor spreading more glue for each line. Particle board underlayment.

Begin with the first row pre drilling holes. Hardwood floors also help cut down on dust mites.