Thickness Of Subfloor For Hardwood Flooring

1 suitable wood flooring.

Thickness of subfloor for hardwood flooring.

Allow for a 1 32 inch gap between subflooring panels when installing hardwood flooring to accommodate swelling with increased moisture content. Sub flooring must be installed with the strength axis perpendicular to the flooring joists. Usually manufactured in 4 by 8 foot sheets plywood panels and osb are acceptable subfloors for hardwood. If the joists are spaced 16 inches on centers or less the minimum required thicknesses are 5 8 inches for plywood and 23 32 inches for osb.

Thoroughly vacuum the existing floor and use a long level and tape measure to ensure the subfloor is level within 3 16 inch for every 10 feet. Once you determine the subfloor is the proper thickness check that the subfloor is. The thicknesses are as follows. 3 4 thick solid wood flooring and most all other hardwood flooring including engineered or floating engineered wood flooring and laminate floors can be installed directly over 5 8 or 3 4 thick cdx plywood sub floors.

Cdx plywood should be a minimum of 7 16 inch thick. 7 16 15 32 and 1 2 inch thick panels require joists spaced 16 inches on center. 1 2 inch 12 7 mm 5 8 inch 15 88 mm. A smooth surface is necessary for a subfloor.

Nail down or floating floors may be installed over existing vinyl as long as it is no more than two layers thick. If the spacing increases to but is no more than 19 2. The subfloor provides a support. Considering the fasteners are installed at a 45 degree angle or blind nailed overall thickness required runs about 5 8 of one inch.

A subfloor that is less than 1 2 inch thick will dimple or. Cdx plywood ranging from 1 2 to 3 4 inch thick and rated a c will serve well for any hardwood flooring installation. 3 check before installation. Tongue and groove plywood is available to reduce squeaks and help the subfloor fit together better.

Plywood is the best subfloor for hardwood flooring installation.