Installing Solid Hardwood Floors Over Particle Board

It is particle board and not osb.

Installing solid hardwood floors over particle board.

Like unfinished hardwood floors the prefinished types typically have tongue and groove edges on all sides. The home is about 35 years old. Once you have insured the particle is in good condition you are able to install any floating type flooring engineered hardwood strand woven bamboo or eucalyptus laminate or cork over the particle board. If this type of underlayment is present it will have to be removed when planning to install a nail or glue down hardwood floor.

Make a line of glue the length. Last year we installed solid oak hardwood floor in our main bedroom and family room. The particle board does not run under the walls. Installing solid hardwood floors over particleboard plain and simple answer is no.

Start with a small area so you can reach across wet glue without stepping or kneeling in it. The reason floating installations work and are the best suited for installation over a particleboard sub floor is because a floating floor is not secured to the sub floor in any area. To our dismay when we ripped up the old carpet we found that the whole subfloor was covered with particle board. They are available in 3 4 inch thickness as well as low profile styles that are 5 16 to 5 8 inch thick which are a good or installing over existing flooring.

Spread flooring adhesive on the particleboard with your flooring trowel. We want to install either laminate or hardwood flooring throughout most of our home. 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. I pulled up all the carpet and found 3 4 particle board over 1 2 plywood board subfloor underneath the carpet.

Using a standard nail gun to install the floor was out of the question particle board isn t structurally sound enough to bite nails. Use a thick piece of plywood to help shore up your particle board subfloor at least 3 4 inch thick. If desired particle board underlayment can be left in place if a floating engineered wood floor or a floating laminate floor system is going to be installed over it. Hardwood flooring that is fastened by any method whether it be mechanical fasteners or glue should not go over particle board.

Nails won t grip the particle board but screws do a better job. When thinking about installing wood flooring in a situation where the only subfloor is particle board you really only have one option.