Best Flooring Over Osb Subfloor

How to install a wooden floor over osb.

Best flooring over osb subfloor.

When installing a ceramic tile floor on a concrete subfloor you don t have to worry about flexing as long as the concrete slab is at least 1 1 8 inch thick which most slabs are. A beautiful floor starts with a stable subfloor. It is standard practice to install the hardwood floors. 3 4 thick solid wood flooring can be installed directly over 3 4 thick osb subfloor.

Subfloor sheets for both osb and plywood come in 4 x 8 or 4 x 12 sheets. Installed directly over the joists the primary function of a subfloor is to create a flat solid surface for the finished flooring to rest on. The goal is to have a wooden subfloor consisting of two. Nail down or floating floors may be installed over existing vinyl as long as it s no more than two layers thick.

Thoroughly vacuum the existing floor and use a long floor leveler and tape measure to ensure the subfloor is level within 3 16 inch for every 10 feet. Builders often reserve the use of oriented stand board for residential sheathing and construct subfloors with plywood. In basements and in homes with slab on grade foundations the subfloor may simply be a concrete slab. However you re not out of the woods.

In fact due to the problems that edge swelling creates underneath a finished floor a couple of national ceramic tile associations have discouraged the use of osb as a subfloor or underlayment. Thicknesses for products used for subfloors are generally 23 32 inch just under 3 4 inch but thicker sheets are available where building codes call for them. Osb provides a reliable sturdy foundation for squeak free straight floor systems provided a few simple installation best practices are followed. Osb oriented strand board subflooring.

On wood frame floors the subflooring provides a continuous structural surface over the floor joists. Even so the national wood flooring. Installation usually consists of gluing and nailing the osb sheets to the floor joists. Measure and cut 1 4 inch or thicker plywood with a circular saw to fit the entire floor of the room where you are installing vinyl flooring.

Concrete expands and contracts and that type of movement can also crack the tiles and the grout. Here are nine common subfloor installation mistakes and how to prevent them.