Best Subfloor For Hardwood Floors

It s in these rooms where people will likely install tiles hardwood flooring or laminate.

Best subfloor for hardwood floors.

Certain types of subflooring known as resilient flooring are good for rooms that will not be exposed to a lot of moisture like living rooms kitchens and bedrooms. Finished flooring materials can be installed directly over the subfloor or over an underlayment added to the subfloor. Sub floor construction should have expansion areas of their own in the area of 1 8 1 4 between boards or sheets of ply. Floating sub floors for solid hardwood installations generally consist of two layers of plywood or allowing enough wood for a 1 inch flooring cleat to hold effectively.

Plywood is the best subfloor for hardwood flooring installation. Underlayment can provide a smooth surface for flooring among other properties. On wood frame floors the subflooring provides a continuous structural surface over the floor joists. When a roofless partially built structure takes on water the plywood or osb used for floor decking can absorb water swell delaminate and require sanding or replacement before finish flooring.

The subfloor consists of sheet materials that are nailed or screwed to the joists to. A typical wood framed residential flooring system is more complicated than you think. Tongue and groove plywood is available to reduce squeaks and help the subfloor fit together better. This is a fancy durable moisture proof and informal floor that makes good sense for basements especially.

In basements and in homes with slab on grade foundations the subfloor may simply be a concrete slab. The posh plank flooring continues to be one of the most revered and sought after interior features for homeowners and designers today and for good reason. Plywood three quarters inch thick is the most common and the strongest. Unlike subflooring underlayment is not a structural material and it is not required with many types of flooring.

Cdx plywood ranging from 1 2 to 3 4 inch thick and rated a c will serve well for any hardwood flooring installation. Solid hardwood floors have an extensive history steeped in status and luxury that dates back hundreds of years. Plywood that is five eighth inch thick also available for flooring but using it restricts joist spacing and the types of finished flooring. The subfloor rests directly on the floor joists and is the lowest layer of flooring material.

Always install basement carpet on top of a vapor impervious subfloor this will raise the temperature of the floor in winter make your carpet more pleasant to walk on and most importantly prevent humid air from cozying up to the concrete and triggering mold growth.