plywood for flooring any builders

[Ilikeitblackplease]

Just wondering I have wood floorboards that have gaps, I was thinking about getting 3mm plywood to glue or nail onto my floorboards then laying my underlay and carpet. I was wondering about the distance between the skirting board and 3mm plywood on floor do I place the plywood touching the skirting board or do I allow expansion gaps and if so how much.

 

[AHarvey]

I was always under the impression you should leave room for expansion, it even says so when laying laminate flooring but a local tradesman that does flooring never leaves a gap. I've seen photos of him laying plyboard and laminate and no gaps around the edge so no beading is needed and it's been fine.

I left a 4mm gap with my laminate in the dining room and tbh, it was a pain doing so but when I had to rebuild the bathroom floor after a flood I used 3mm ply and no gaps, had no issues with it and that was 2-3 years ago now.

 

[Maccapacca]

Leave enough room for the grippers

 

[a1ex2001]

why block the 3mm gaps it's a load of work that you won't even notice once decent carpet and underlay is down?

 

[Mark A]

Cant you get a paper/material product that is designed for covering up gaps in floorboards? Might be a bit easier than messing about with ply.

Ply is quite stable due to the fact the grain goes in opposite directions, so theres little movement, but still a good idea to leave a small gap around the perimeter to stop the boards tenting should they expand.

Never fit Laminate or hardwood flooring without a gap though as that does expand and contract a lot throughout the year. I have been to jobs where the skirting board was being pushed into the gap between the plaster and floor, so that the top of the skirting board was coming away from the wall.

 

[Ilikeitblackplease]

Cant you get a paper/material product that is designed for covering up gaps in floorboards? Might be a bit easier than messing about with ply.

Ply is quite stable due to the fact the grain goes in opposite directions, so theres little movement, but still a good idea to leave a small gap around the perimeter to stop the boards tenting should they expand.

Never fit Laminate or hardwood flooring without a gap though as that does expand and contract a lot throughout the year. I have been to jobs where the skirting board was being pushed into the gap between the plaster and floor, so that the top of the skirting board was coming away from the wall.

The ply would block of any holes between the floorboards, as there seems to be an asbestos pipe under the floor boards and would like to seal it off just in case.

 

[Ilikeitblackplease]

Cant you get a paper/material product that is designed for covering up gaps in floorboards? Might be a bit easier than messing about with ply.

Ply is quite stable due to the fact the grain goes in opposite directions, so theres little movement, but still a good idea to leave a small gap around the perimeter to stop the boards tenting should they expand.

Never fit Laminate or hardwood flooring without a gap though as that does expand and contract a lot throughout the year. I have been to jobs where the skirting board was being pushed into the gap between the plaster and floor, so that the top of the skirting board was coming away from the wall.

The ply would block of any holes between the floorboards, as there seems to be an asbestos pipe under the floor boards and would like to seal it off just in case.
I was thinking 4mm ply and 10 mm screws as the floorboards are about 15mm.