Carpeting over old creaky/gappy Floorboards.

Tinders · 16 Feb 2015 at 09:49

Hi Guys,

I need to carpet the spare room, problem is that the floorboards are a bit loose and uneven. Just wondering how to tackle this, im guessing some thin ply/MDF screwed down would be ok?

What thickness should i use?

Kiyoshi · 16 Feb 2015 at 11:36

Thin ply or even hardboard might be okay, 3mm-4mm ply maybe? It really doesn't have to be that thick.

Depending how much work you want to cause yourself (personally) I would try and reduce the creaking. Either trying to nail them down more, or screw them into the joists and also try and level any proud boards with the other ones will make the ply level smoother.

From experience I'd also push some wedge slivers of wood in between any really creaky boards to try and keep the movement minimal. I laid 11mm underlay and new carpet on top of creaky boards thinking it would mute the creaking somewhat - it didn't

Tinders · 16 Feb 2015 at 11:53

Yep been there and dont that, bought a fairly expensive underlay, and within 4 years i could see sagging bits where the gaps were and the creaks just got annoying, so im going to do it properly in this house, screw the loose ones down and then put boards over the top, just not sure what thickness and what type of board to use.

bloodiedathame · 16 Feb 2015 at 12:03

I'm in a similar situation, quite tempted to rip em all up and re-lay it with chipboard loft boards.

Tinders · 16 Feb 2015 at 12:07

Wouldnt have thought chipboard would be strong enough??

My floor boards are actually oak, pity the previous owners hacked em to bits

bloodiedathame · 16 Feb 2015 at 12:10

Tinders said:
Wouldnt have thought chipboard would be strong enough??

My floor boards are actually oak, pity the previous owners hacked em to bits

And the added problem if you spill water on it it'll be problematic.

Maybe ply?

Mark A · 16 Feb 2015 at 15:04

Hardboard is usually used for this purpose, i think it's usually 3mm. Rough side up and fastened down with annular nails.

BigBoy · 16 Feb 2015 at 15:29

Tinders said:
Wouldnt have thought chipboard would be strong enough??

My floor boards are actually oak, pity the previous owners hacked em to bits

chipboard is plenty strong enough 18-22mm thick. Most modern houses are built with chipboard floors.

mattyg · 16 Feb 2015 at 15:31

bloodiedathame said:
I'm in a similar situation, quite tempted to rip em all up and re-lay it with chipboard loft boards.

Tinders said:
Wouldnt have thought chipboard would be strong enough??

My floor boards are actually oak, pity the previous owners hacked em to bits

bloodiedathame said:
And the added problem if you spill water on it it'll be problematic.

Maybe ply?

Huh?

Newbuilds come with Chipboard floorboards.

Edit:I need to type faster

Tinders · 16 Feb 2015 at 16:13

BigBoy said:
chipboard is plenty strong enough 18-22mm thick. Most modern houses are built with chipboard floors.

Ahhh, something i didnt know, i have the loft ones and they dont strike me as particularly strong.

Millwall.FC · 16 Feb 2015 at 17:20

And the green ones are moisture resistant.

BigBoy · 16 Feb 2015 at 18:10

A lot of modern builds use joists made from a combination of ply and chipboard it's supposed to be as strong if not stronger than oak joists and possibly as strong as RSJ's!

Nedved11 · 16 Feb 2015 at 19:25

Hate pulling up new build floors. Give me floorboards any day of the week! As suggested though. Screw down loose and creaky board and overboard, ideally with 6mm ply or 3mm hardboard.

Mark A · 16 Feb 2015 at 20:30

BigBoy said:
A lot of modern builds use joists made from a combination of ply and chipboard it's supposed to be as strong if not stronger than oak joists and possibly as strong as RSJ's!

I think thats OSB and ply.

Getting back to the OP, I don't think there is any point at all in ripping up oak floorboards and replacing with chipboard. Unless they are in really bad shape then ovarboarding with hardboard will be fine. Just make sure to use annular nails and not smooth ones and put enough in. Make sure you stop any creaks before putting the boards down as you wont be able to rectify it after.

theone8181 · 16 Feb 2015 at 21:07

My current floors upstairs are chipboard and the house was built in 96. The boards are actually much wider than normal floorboards, they must be a good 1m x 1.5m or so. Must be much cheaper to lay as they're so big unfortunately they're **** and creak lots.