Types of Sub floors
The Sub floor is, literally, the floor beneath your new timber floor and the surface upon which you will lay your new hardwood floor or laminate floor material.
The Sub floor can be the concrete foundation of your home, or it could be the floor boards or plywood laid over the floor joists.
To ensure your wood floor is laid correctly and level it is absolutely essential the sub floor surface is clean, dry and level if you are going to have a wood floor finish you are proud of.
The decision of how your wooden floor is laid and installed is determined by the type of sub floor you have. For example if you have a concrete sub floor you can install laminates or soft material such as cork using a Glue or floating method but you would not be able to use Nails or Staples to secure your flooring as they will not be able to penetrate the concrete.
Some common sub floor types are:
Concrete or cement.
Plywood – this is a panel made of three or more thin layers of wood which have been bonded together using glue. The layers are laid to alter the grain directions, usually oriented at right angles, to add strength to the plywood finished board.
Particleboard – this is made from small wood particles (wood chips, sawmill shavings, saw dust) and bonded together under high pressure to give a compressed finish. Particleboard has a higher density than chipboard, and is a cheaper and less durable alternative to solid wood or plywood sub floors.
Tongue & Groove Floorboards – traditional softwood floorboards these are most commonly found in the vast majority of homes in the UK.
Vinyl floors, glued-down carpets, and other existing flooring types are not suitable as sub flooring (especially for wood floors) and these must be removed and the surface of the sub floor prepared before installing any type of wood flooring, it is vitally important that the sub floor is solid, flat and dry before you consider laying any type of wood flooring material.
This table gives you a quick reference guide as to the type of sub floor and typical methods of installation of your wood flooring you can use:
Sub floor |
Flooring Type |
Installation Method |
Concrete |
Solid |
Nailed onto Battens, Glue-Down |
Engineered |
Floating, Glue-Down |
|
Laminate |
Floating |
|
Bamboo |
Floating, Glue-Down |
|
Plywood, T&G |
Solid |
Nail-down, Glue-Down |
Engineered |
Floating, Glue-Down |
|
Laminate |
Floating |
|
Bamboo |
Floating, Glue-Down |
|
Particle Board |
Solid |
Glue-Down |
Engineered |
Floating. Glue-Down |
|
Laminate |
Floating |
|
Bamboo |
Floating, Glue-Down |