Oak Flooring onto Chipboard Sub Floor - Nail or Glue

[ElBlanco]

Hi all,

I've searched back through the old posts and keep finding conflicting advice . . .

I'm planning on having 18mm real oak wooden flooring installed in my hallway and study. Some posts say that you CAN'T nail onto a chipboard floor and recommend gluing, other posts seem to say that glue doesn't work on modern chipboard (something about the coating on it ?!) hence you have to nail down.

Just to add to the confusion, I've had two flooring fitters around to give me a quote, and one recommended nailing it down with underlay beneath it, the other said to glue it down for a proper job.

Now I'm completely confused . . . anyone any advice ?!

Alternatively I've come accross Elastilon, perhaps I could do it my self with this instead . . .

Comments welcome.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[WoodYouLike]

Alternatively I've come accross Elastilon, perhaps I could do it my self with this instead . . .

That would be your only solution indeed, besides overplying first.

Chipboard - rubbish product!
Solid Floors - between a rock and a hard place

 

[ElBlanco]

Mmmm, not what I wanted to hear - so these fitters are BOTH leading me up the garden path then !?

Does the adhesive really not stick to chipboard ?! Is there nothing you can put on the chipboard first to alleviate this ?

Has anyone used ScrewFix's own-brand alternative to Elastilon - any comments on how good it is ?!

Thanks,
Chris

 

[ElBlanco]

Hi Woodyoulike,

I've seen previous posts by yourselves and others (2007 timescales etc.) that mention gluing down onto chipboard - is the recommendation not to do this based on more recent experience of past floors that you glued down coming unstuck ?!

Thanks,
Chris

 

[WoodYouLike]

Moist repellent chipboard used to have a different coloured surface - since it is now (too) commonly used by builders and from DIY-sheds the old fashion chipboard is no longer being used.

There is still special chipboard around, small sheets (called breads) which are often used in mainland Europe to install design parquet onto - and onto which you can safely glue. These however I've never seen in the UK.

 

[ElBlanco]

Hi again,

My house is just over 3 years old - is there a way to tell whether I have this new moisture repellant chipboard or not ? I'd much prefer to glue if at all possible . . .

Is there nothing I can put down over the chipboard to solve the problem, some sort of coating or perhaps sheets of hardboard ?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[WoodYouLike]

You will have the moist repellent chipboard, it's being used in all new houses from the beginning of 2000 onwards.

Other option would be to return the solid floorboards (boxes containing random length pieces between 300 - 1200?) and switch to decent wood-engineered boards - long lengths. this you can safely install using the floating method on suitable underlayment - which should not contain a DPM

 

[ElBlanco]

WoodYouLike - many thanks for all the advice !! I think I've made the decision to do this myself using Elastilon as the underlay . . . onto my next question

I'll be laying the flooring in my hallway and study. The study is a nice easy square room, but the hallway gives me some food for thought ! The bottom stair is curved and to the left-hand side of the stair you can also see the stringer for the staircase which goes down to floor level.

My question is how can I cater for the expansion gap with these ? Is it possible to rebate into / trim the bottom off the bottom stair's riser and fit the flooring underneath ?

What about the stringer, can I rebate into this without effecting the structural integrity of the stair case ?

How do people typically cater for expansion gaps around the bottom of staircases / stringers ?!

Many thanks,

Chris