whats the best way to lay chipboard floor

[turningtim]

Hi All,

having had several heating systems\rewires etc a lot of the existing timber boards are basically wrecked, I was planning on robbing the boards out of the living room to replace the others around the house and then doing the whole living room in chipboard T&G. Its a 1960 house and its going to be carpeted over.

Ive seen loads of posts on how to correct a poor chipbd floor so how do you do it properly to start with??? (or is it just the devils work and to be avoided )

Do you
glue all the joints with PVA
Add talc not PVA to the joints
put 3 or 4 screws per 600mm board
silicone the ends to fill the gaps against the wall

hang the expense and use real wood floor boards

I was also going to add insulation between the joists -seems daft not to with all the boards up -so whats the best option for that?

Any help appreciated

 

[mattysupra]

just dont use chipboard. Use plywood or OSB board.

 

[JohnD]

The best way to lay Chipboard Flooring is to lay it carefully in the skip, then go out and buy some 18mm WBP ply and use that instead.

 

[hugehead]

is it normal / appropriate to fix chipboard floors with nails.

not sure if they are shanked.

seems to be a lot of creaking in a house a friend of mine is currently looking to buy ( new home) 22mm thickness

i kind of thought it was a no no.

quick response would be good.

cheers

 

[turningtim]

thanks for the info guys, never been a fan of chipboard, so if I go for 18mm ply is it just going to be 8'x4' sheets butted together or is it available in, say, 4x2 like chip and T&G or is it out with the router?

 

[mattysupra]

you can get it with tongue and groove. I prefer laying 8x4 square edge tho. Cut them back to meet on a joist. Across the headers of the boards i put a battern underneath to screw into (supported by the other board)

I like this method becuase you can get a whole panel up without having to cut the tongue off. Saves any damage and squeaks in the future.

 

[JohnD]

if, like me, you are not strong enough to carry an 8x4 sheet upstairs, you can also get 8x2 T&G all round WBP 18mm flooring ply.

the surface can be a bit rough, look before you buy.

 

[lovelyjob]

JohnD...where can this mysterious 8 x 2' T&G WBP ply be bought please? One company seems to make it only under a trade name of 'WISA III TG4'. It looks like good stuff. Pricey and hard to find. Around £22 a piece. Is this the stuff you mean?

 

[JohnD]

I got mine from a timber merchant in Chichester called Covers. It was in their online catalogue but the counter hand had never heard of it, so lucky I took a printout of the page when I went to order it. It is spruce and quite bad for knots and splinters. Would not matter if carpeted or laminated over.

I have subsequently been using hardwood-faced WBP ply, which is square-edged but has a much better finish suitable for staining and varnishing. However AFAIK, although it is a superior quality, it is not graded and stamped for construction use. If that matters.

Being square-edged you have to nog it more, but it is far easier to take up if you need to get at wiring or plumbing.