Install Hardwood Over Osb Subfloor

How to install a wooden floor over osb.

Install hardwood over osb subfloor.

Plywood and osb subfloors over joists are most common in newer homes and new construction typically in homes with basements or crawlspaces. 3 4 thick solid wood flooring can be installed directly over 3 4 thick osb subfloor. Builders choose osb because it typically costs less than plywood free of knots and voids and can be used interchangeably in typical flooring applications where the panels have the correct span rating. Ideally i would tear out the existing finish flooring screw down the existing plank subfloor where loose repair the plank subfloor where needed and then lay my new.

While this is not a definitive guide to hardwood installation over osb panels there are some important points to ponder. Right now i have 3 4 tg hardwood which is not in the best shape over a 2 5 wide x 3 4 inch think plank subfloor which runs perpendicular to the joists 2x10 16 oc. We re installing reclaimed oak t g 3 4 in our loft upstairs which has 3 4 osb subfloor over engineered joists. We ll be using a pneumatic toe nailer and plan to lay it directly over the osb without an underlayment such as roofing felt craft paper etc.

Usually manufactured in 4 by 8 foot sheets plywood panels and osb are acceptable subfloors for hardwood flooring as long as they. An increasing number of homes and light commercial buildings have oriented strand board osb subfloors. Okay to install hardwood over osb. 1 suitable wood flooring.

The national wood flooring association advises that osb sub flooring panels be glued and fastened. Other osb negatives contractors builders and home remodelers have mixed opinions about the use of osb for flooring mostly tending toward the negative. Select an approved adhesive for sub flooring that is strong enough to keep its bond over the lifetime of the floor and elastic enough to allow for settling in the panels and joists. Osb oriented strand board subflooring.

It is standard practice to install the hardwood floors. Installation usually consists of gluing and nailing the osb sheets to the floor joists. Installing hardwood flooring over osb. Hardwood can make for a durable and beautiful floor but small mistakes in the subflooring or installation can wreak havoc and buckling squeaky uneven floors can all result from poor installation.

Osb subfloor is mostly serving as a base under the finish floor hardwood engineered wood vinyl tile etc and even below the underlayment in some cases. Builders often reserve the use of oriented stand board for residential sheathing and construct subfloors with plywood. Plywood and osb over joists.