Installing Hardwood Flooring On Particle 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.

Installing hardwood flooring on 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. Begin with the first row pre drilling holes. That option is floating a floor over top of the subfloor. Next using your hammer insert a nail 1 inch from the wall and about every 4 inches along the board.

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. To our dismay when we ripped up the old carpet we found that the whole subfloor was covered with particle board. It s best to vacuum the particleboard first to help the glue adhere. When thinking about installing wood flooring in a situation where the only subfloor is particle board you really only have one option.

I pulled up all the carpet and found 3 4 particle board over 1 2 plywood board subfloor underneath the carpet. It is particle board and not osb. Stop when you have about 5 feet of flooring remaining to be laid or when you don t. Don t mop the floor as it can absorb the water and damage the particleboard.

Use a thick piece of plywood to help shore up your. Last year we installed solid oak hardwood floor in our main bedroom and family room. Hardwood floors also help cut down on dust mites. Use a skillsaw to cut through the particle board 1 1 2 from the walls use a sawzall or something similar to finish cuts.

Hardwood flooring that is fastened by any method whether it be mechanical fasteners or glue should not go over particle board. The home is about 35 years old. 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. The particle board does not run under the walls.

We want to install either laminate or hardwood flooring throughout most of our home. Here s how to install flooring using the staple down method. 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. Try not to cut into the joists or blocking so set your skillsaw depth carefully to 7 8.

Particle board underlayment. Pull up the existing flooring and baseboards in the room you are working in.