Installing Hardwood Flooring On Particle Board

The particle board does not run under the walls.

Installing hardwood flooring on particle board.

We want to install either laminate or hardwood flooring throughout most of our home. 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 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. Begin with the first row pre drilling holes.

That option is floating a floor over top of the subfloor. Hardwood floors also help cut down on dust mites. Try not to cut into the joists or blocking so set your skillsaw depth carefully to 7 8. The home is about 35 years old.

When thinking about installing wood flooring in a situation where the only subfloor is particle board you really only have one option. Particle board underlayment. To our dismay when we ripped up the old carpet we found that the whole subfloor was covered with 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.

Typically used for engineereed hardwood staple down installation works well with 3 8 5 8 inch flooring. Here s how to install flooring using the staple down method. 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. I pulled up all the carpet and found 3 4 particle board over 1 2 plywood board subfloor underneath the carpet. Hardwood flooring that is fastened by any method whether it be mechanical fasteners or glue should not go over particle 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.

Install the remaining lines of hardwood across your particleboard subfloor spreading more glue for each line. Don t mop the floor as it can absorb the water and damage the particleboard. Pull up the existing flooring and baseboards in the room you are working in. Last year we installed solid oak hardwood floor in our main bedroom and family room.

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. 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.