What does a subfloor consist of?

What does a subfloor consist of?

What Is a Subfloor? A subfloor is the solid material beneath your floor covering. It is attached to your home’s floor joists and acts as a base for your finished flooring, such as carpet, hardwood, laminate, tile, etc. Typically, a subfloor is made of plywood or oriented strand board (OSB) panels.

What goes on top of a subfloor?

Underlayment: Some types of flooring can be installed directly on top of the subfloor, such as vinyl flooring. Other types need a middle layer, called underlayment, such as laminate,carpet and tile.

How thick should a subfloor be?

The minimum thickness of plywood for subflooring is about 5/8 inch. Since it does not hold fasteners as well as plywood, OSB must be a little thicker, or at least 23/32 inch.

What thickness should subfloor be?

Do I need two layers of subfloor?

That’s the usual approach. Almost no one puts down double-thick subfloor in residential applications (for cost and handling reasons), and both layers need to be fastened to joists. Only thin underlayment can be fastened just to the subfloor.

Should subfloor have gaps?

To avoid buckling, subfloor panels should be spaced with a 1/8-inch gap at all edges and ends to provide room for naturally occurring expansion. Tongue-and-groove edges on many premium floor panels, such as Weyerhaeuser’s Edge Gold® OSB panels, are designed to self-gap.

Do you need a moisture barrier on wood subfloor?

Wood Subfloors Sometimes, a moisture barrier is not recommended. If you’re installing your hardwood floors over a wood subfloor, you should avoid using a moisture barrier. Over time, moisture can get trapped between the moisture barrier protecting your hardwood flooring and the wood subfloor.

Should you nail or screw subfloor?

Using code-approved screws rather than nails is the best option for avoiding movement. If using nails for subfloor installation, stick with ring-shank nails; smooth nails may withdraw easier, leading to squeaks.

How much does it cost to install a subfloor?

For a basic project in zip code 47474 with 120 square feet, the cost to Install a Subfloor starts at $8.40 – $16.31 per square foot*. Actual costs will depend on job size, conditions, size options.

How to install a subfloor?

Use a T-square to mark the cut lines on the plywood.

Cut the plywood to size,running the circular saw across the width of the board.

Using the original sub-floor nails as a guide,mark the floor joist locations on the wall to know where to insert the screws.

Lay the plywood in place on the floor.

Run a chalk line off the floor joist to mark the wall. Then,drive deck screws every 8 inches along the line.

Bring in the cement board and lay it down on the plywood (Image 1). Screw the cement board into the plywood about every 6 inches (Image 2).

What is the best material for a subfloor?

Plywood has been a standard subfloor material since the 1950s and remains the preferred subflooring for many builders. Standard plywood can be used for subfloors, but a better material is 3/4-inch tongue-and-groove plywood subflooring.

How do you replace a subfloor?

Full Answer. Pry up the floorboards with a crowbar and cut out the rotten subflooring with a circular saw. If the joists are still sturdy, replace the rotten subflooring with new plywood cut to fit the space in question and then nail down the new wood. It is possible to nail new plywood into place onto rotten subflooring,…