Table of Contents
How do you attach plywood to a subfloor?
Instructions For Installing Another Layer Of Plywood Acclimate the underlayment. Store underlayment in the room it will be installed in for 72 hours before the actual installation. Clean the subfloor. Start installing the plywood. Staple the boards in place. Fill the seams.
What do you put under plywood subfloor?
Plywood is only one type of underlayment. Other common types include cementboard or tile backer (used under ceramic or stone tile), foam underlayment (used under laminate and engineered wood “floating” floors), and rosin paper (used under solid hardwood flooring).
How should plywood subflooring not lay?
1. Improper spacing. 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.
What thickness of plywood do I need for a subfloor?
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.
Do I need to glue plywood to subfloor?
Many people don’t bother to glue down their plywood underlayment. Instead, they just screw or nail the boards to the subfloor. A plywood underlayment helps to strengthen a subfloor that has some flex or bend to it to make a more stable foundation for your floor.
Should you glue down plywood underlayment?
No, you should not glue down your underlayment. Underlayment is is a floating material, the same as your laminate flooring. In most cases, you should not glue or nail your underlayment down. You should always check with the installation instructions of the underlayment for proper installation instructions first.
Which way do you lay plywood subfloor?
Install plywood underlayment smooth side up. To avoid damage to the surface, install underlayment immediately before laying the finish flooring.
Do you nail or screw subfloor?
Ideally, nail down your subfloor using corrosion-resistant nails that will securely hold it in place and last a long time. Screws are a great alternative that you can easily remove, but they are not as sturdy. Screws are superior in terms of reducing floor squeaks, but the installation is slower.
Which way do you lay a subfloor?
Flooring experts recommend installing flooring boards perpendicular to the floor joists in a house with a plywood subfloor.
Does plywood need expansion gap?
APA recommends a 1/8-inch space between panel edge and end joints. Plywood and oriented strand board (OSB), like all wood products, will expand or shrink slightly with changes in moisture content. If the wood structural panels are tightly butted, there is no room for expansion and buckling can occur.
Is it better to use OSB or plywood for subfloor?
The National Tile Contractors Association and the Resilient Floor Covering Institute both recommend plywood for subflooring and underlayment, because it doesn’t have the risk of swollen edges that OSB does. Plywood also has a slight advantage in stiffness, which means that subflooring panels need not be quite as thick.
Do you need tongue and groove for subfloor?
For subflooring, you use tongue and groove plywood. The tongue and groove are only along the 8 foot edges. On the four foot edges, your seams will fall on joist tops, so no need for tongue and groove.
What goes on top of 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.
What is the best plywood for subfloor?
The recommended thickness of the plywood subfloor is governed by the spacing of the joists. Some experts suggest that 15/32-inch plywood should be standard if the underlying floor joists are spaced 16 inches apart or less, but slightly thicker 3/4-inch plywood should be used for joists spaced further apart.
Do you have to use subfloor adhesive?
Although using a subfloor adhesive (or subfloor glue) is not required by code, it is a standard practice that can help prevent floor squeaks by reducing the chance for movement at the panel-to-joist connection. A quality subfloor adhesive will also increase the overall stiffness of the floor.
What screws to use on plywood floors?
Most construction experts use 3-inch steel screws for plywood subfloors. To find out which length of screw you’ll need, you first have to know how thick the flooring is. You’ll want the screw to go about an inch past the plywood into the joist or underlying layer beneath it.
What do you put between subfloor and underlayment?
Use building paper! Yep, put down an underlayment of 15-pound felt building paper between a wood subfloor and your hardwood planks, and you can reduce the chance of squeaky floors and control moisture.
What is the difference between subfloor and underlayment?
The subfloor is the bottom most structure of the floor. It provides a flat and stable surface and supports the actual floor. Underlayment is different from the subfloor in that it rests between the subfloor and the actual floor.
How do you screw down a subfloor?
A thicker subfloor takes a 3-inch screw. Use a heavy-duty drill to drive Phillips head wood screws through the subfloor into the floor joists. Drive the screws approximately 8 inches apart. To make the job easier for you and the drill, we suggest that you pre-drill holes before screwing the subfloor down.
Should underlay be stuck down?
It’s important to ensure the underlay is rubber or foam-side down. Try to keep the underlay as straight (and bump-free!) as possible and secure in place – either by stapling inside the gripper or by using an effective adhesive. Each roll of underlay should be laid in the same way.
Should subfloor be parallel or perpendicular?
1 Answer. Most subfloor and underlayment sheet goods are manufactured with greater strength/stiffness on one axis. It may have longer wood strands in that direction, or it may have a greater number of plies with grain in that direction. For this reason it should be oriented perpendicular to framing members.
