Solid Oak Flooring on to Ply

[thebadger7]

Hi all

I am laying solid oak flooring onto ply (with some floorboards at edges), and am torn between secret nailing, and gluing over a slatted underlay like this one:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/acoustalay-slatted-glue-through-foam-underlay-5mm-16-5m-16-5m/62862

Does anyone have any experience on this? Subfloor is mostly level but there are some imperfections, so I'm thinking the underlay may help mask these and also provide some sound proofing, although I don't like spongy feeling floors.

Cheers

Luke

 

[Doggit]

It won't provide any soundproofing, but when you say some imperfections, what sort are they. You might need to use a latex based self levelling compound to level the floor.

You could use and ordinary underlay (which shouldn't give any sponginess) , and glue the tongue and grooves.

 

[thebadger7]

Mixture of ply and floorboards, joists have been relevelled but it's still not 100%

 

[Doggit]

Only you can know if it's level enough, otherwise you're going to have to tackle if first. And under that caveat, secret nailing might be better than a floating floor.

Any pictures.

 

[thebadger7]

I think the floor is level enough, but I'm fitting it myself so thinking gluing would be easier.

It wouldn't be floating as boards would be glued directly to ply through slats in the underlay using a flexible adhesive - but would the underlay just be a waste of time/money? Thinking it might help with dampening any sounds etc

 

[thebadger7]

Or could use something like this and skip the underlay?

http://www.directwoodflooring.co.uk/elka-bond-trowel-flex.html