Best Subfloor For Hardwood Floors

Preferred subfloors in these cases are a mortar bed or cement board.

Best subfloor for hardwood floors. The subfloor rests directly on the floor joists and is the lowest layer of flooring material. The posh plank flooring continues to be one of the most revered and sought after interior features for homeowners and designers today and for good reason. In addition to the visible surface flooring material the carpet tile or hardwood there is usually an underlayment and beneath that is a subfloor that serves as the foundation and structural reinforcement for the floor. Certain types of subflooring known as resilient flooring are good for rooms that will not be exposed to a lot of moisture like living rooms kitchens and bedrooms.

Plywood that is five eighth inch thick also available for flooring but using it restricts joist spacing and the types of finished flooring. Tongue and groove plywood is available to reduce squeaks and help the subfloor fit together better. The subfloor consists of sheet materials that are nailed or screwed to the joists to. Unlike subflooring underlayment is not a structural material and it is not required with many types of flooring.

The subfloor is the foundation beneath finish flooring materials. This is a fancy durable moisture proof and informal floor that makes good sense for basements especially. Solid hardwood floors have an extensive history steeped in status and luxury that dates back hundreds of years. Plywood is the best subfloor for hardwood flooring installation.

Underlayment can provide a smooth surface for flooring among other properties. On wood frame floors the subflooring provides a continuous structural surface over the floor joists. Plywood three quarters inch thick is the most common and the strongest. A typical wood framed residential flooring system is more complicated than you think.

Cdx plywood ranging from 1 2 to 3 4 inch thick and rated a c will serve well for any hardwood flooring installation. Always install basement carpet on top of a vapor impervious subfloor this will raise the temperature of the floor in winter make your carpet more pleasant to walk on and most importantly prevent humid air from cozying up to the concrete and triggering mold growth. Finished flooring materials can be installed directly over the subfloor or over an underlayment added to the subfloor. Floating sub floors for solid hardwood installations generally consist of two layers of plywood or allowing enough wood for a 1 inch flooring cleat to hold effectively.

In basements and in homes with slab on grade foundations the subfloor may simply be a concrete slab.