That's fine. Is this a nail down or engineered product?

Hi,

It would be a nail down 3/4" product.

Over OSB is fine, but are you sure it is not particle board?

It might be particle board. It says it is 5/8" Potlatch floor underlayment. I found a piece downstairs. Would it be a fiasco to lay hardwood on this stuff even with plywood underneath it?

What you have is particle board and is not an approved substrate for a fastened down wood floor.

jerry_t,

What would be the best course of action to take when we put down hardwood. Remove the 5/8" underlayment, replace it with something else. Or just remove it period. I think they put it all throughout our house as an underlayment.

What would be the ramifications of putting hardwoods on this underlayment?

Thanks so much!

Every time I run into PB it comes out and is replaced with 5/8 BC grade plywood underlayment. The 1/2" plywood underneath is a CDX grade with no T&G so that is no good for anything without an underlayment over it.

Particle board underlayment is fine underneath carpet because it can breath. It has no holding power for staples or cleats, neither does the CDX sheathing grade plywood subfloor. I've seen many floors installed over PB that are very loose and gapped. That said, I have seen a couple that looked fine.

Also once PB gets covered over with felt and a wood floor it can't breathe anymore and it can start to do funny things.... well, not funny :), but nothing it may want to do is good. You would have no mfg. warranties either.

jerry_t .

Thanks! My installer was going to put the hardoowds right on top of the particle board. I appreciate your voice of experience here. I just had a feeling it wasn't right.

Is an engineered wood okay to install over particle board? I am guessing not, but wanted to check.

Has anyone done floating hardwood, like the Mirage product? My understanding is that we could install over the particle board if we went with floating, but would that be a mistake (would it shift, etc.) in the long run? We are looking at doing a large great room, a hall and 3 bedrooms (basically the entire house).

Thanks!!

You can float most any type floor covering over particle board. Do not put any plastic down for a vapor barrier and avoid using 3-in-1 type padding..... if you do, cut some slits in it so you don't completely make a bad sandwich out of the PB.

Thank you. Would you recommend against floating hardwood (compared to staple or nail?). We will have it professionally installed.

Could the engineered go over the particle board?

I just purchased engineered hardwood from Mohawk flooring. Their installation instructions say in all caps bold letters that particle board is not an acceptable sub floor for staple or nail down installation but it can be used as a sub floor for glue down installation. Sorry if this bums anyone out, but i too will have to figure out another way to install mine even though I have already purchased an air compressor, and a nail gun. Oh well, it's nice to have cool tools.