Possible to lay over chipboard?

[Shark3r]

Hi guys, I was wondering if it's possible to secret nail engineered oak over chipboard?
This (council) house was built with chip(crap)board running under the internal walls, I think it may be a nightmare to try & rip it up, in order to lay oak directly onto the joists. However the floor creaks as it is, because the chipboard has a solid blue 1/2" insulation foam type sheet material between it & the joists & I think it's this, that is causing the chipboard to creak I've never seen an installation like this, naturally the joints in the chipboard are damaged & splintered due to council trying to stabilise it. Any ideas?

Also if I do need to remove chipboard, how do I cut it at the walls?

Thanks
Allan

 

[WoodYouLike]

Best not to nail the wood-engineered floor into chipboard but install it floating on underlayment that does not contain DPM. Chipboard is not the best materials to hold on to nails (we've seen cases where the force and angle of the secret nailing made the chipboard "explode")

 

[yaleguy3]

Yes definately a no no nailing into chipboard. Chipboard screws the only option but they would not hide in the tongues. If you had access to a pneumatic staple gun then you could fasten to the chipboard.
You probably need to replace the chipboard with 15mm ply if you intend to nail through.
Its a problem though as you say the chip is floating on insulation?
Surely the boards should have been put onto the joists and the insulation just used to fill the gaps between the joists.
Just throwing a floor over the insulation sounds like a real bodge job unless someone knows different?

 

[Shark3r]

Thanks guys, pretty sure this is a bodge job, it was done this way as a new build for the local council, God knows how it passed inspection by the clerk of works! I reckon that I need to rip it all out.

What is the best way to cut the chipboard where it goes under the stud walls? I cant get closer than 3" with a circular saw (I have the "RAGE" saw which can cut metal, so any nails is no problem)

Almost certainly I will also need to sister the joists as the whole floor is all over the place What a mess for a 15yr old property.

 

[mac391]

Hang fire a bit !!

The chipboard is, as we all agree a poor and cheap flooring product.. however !! the insulation underneath is a good idea whether it is attached to the chipboard (more common now) or laid between the joists prior to the chipboard. It will save you a fair bit in heating costs.

Leave what you have down and find the joists, you can see where they are by the nails in the woodchip., then secret nail to the joists preferably with 60mm nails but 50mm will just do. This will tighten the woodchip to the joists and hopefully stop the squeaking and your new floor will be fixed to the joists, not the woodchip !!

Whatever you do, don't float it on underlay, not only will it still sqweak, it will bounce aswell.

What you have down now is not a bodge job (woodchip aside) it's there to make the planet greener and your house warmer..

 

[vv2806]

You can cut the chipboard to the wall with the Bosch multitool

http://www.bosch-do-it.co.uk/boptoc...unction+Tools/95226/PMF+180+E/14153/index.htm

or something similar. I have cut floorboards, skirting boards, going to cut a plastic pipe soon.