Engineered flooring over particle board sub floor questions.

[Craig Stueve]

Please help!

I am getting ready to install some 3/8 inch thick 5 inch wide random length T&G (not snap together) engineered hardwood flooring this week. The only problem is that my sub floor is 3/4 inch T&G particle board with the joists at 12 inches on center. I intended on just using a flooring stapler but some of what I read says that stapling is not recommended with particle board sub flooring.

The gut at the flooring store says that I would be OK with just stapling about every 4 inches since my sub floor is in good condition. As I keep reading everything I can find on this I think that the stapling might be the best way to go. The only area with any with any real potential for water is at the front door and at the sliding door. But I plan on having good rubber backed rugs at both locations to help with any moisture there.

How would you recommend I install this?
Floor staples
Glue
Glue the T&G joints & let it float
Or any possible combination?

Thanks
Craig

[Jim Becker]

I'm thinking that this is a glue job or a floater...

[Craig Stueve]

I'm thinking that this is a glue job or a floater...

Thanks Jim. I was hoping to avoid the hassle of having to glue it down but it sounds like that will be my best option.

Craig

[Don Abele]

Craig, this has come up here before and there has been some confusion with it. When you say your subfloor is particle board, are you talking this stuff:

Particle_Board.jpg

Or this stuff, which is actually Oriented Strand Board (OSB):

OSB.jpg

Particle board will not hold a staple for anything. As a matter of fact, it doesn't hold fasteners well at all. OSB on the other hand, holds them against sheering (side to side), but only minimally against pulling out. Screws work well in OSB (about as well as in plywood).

SOLID flooring needs to be anchored to the floor to prevent it from cupping while still allowing seasonal expansion and contraction. There are a few out there that are floating but they use a clip system to attach/anchor them. I'd have serious reservations about gluing all that hardwood together - it's going to cup and twist with humidity changes.

Engineered and laminate flooring is better suited for floating applications. I put down 1600 square feet of laminate in my basement (best for damp locations) and 1800 square feet of engineered flooring upstairs. All of it is floating. I did A LOT of research before installing all that flooring.

If you have a particle board subfloor, I'd talk to the flooring guys again. If it's OSB, I'd use staples as recommended. And by the way, every 4 inches is A LOT of staples. Sounds like TOO many to me.

Let us know how it turns out...

Be well,

Doc

[Steve Evans]

Craig

I just had a chance to look at a new product (new to Canada at least) called Elastilon. It would be ideal for an install like this. Keep in mind that I haven't actually done an install with it yet, other than the demo install. It appears to have a lot of uses, including oddball installs like this. There are a couple of youtube videos as well showing the install process. I'm planning on trying it out in the next couple of months.

Steve

[Don Abele]

OK DON - READ THE POST AGAIN...

Craig, you said it's engineered flooring...Sorry...

Get a good underpad and glue it all together. Be sure to leave the 3/8 gap all the way around the perimeter.

Be well,

Doc