If you have ever lived with a non-tongue/grove plywood (or chipboard) subfloor, the answer will be obvious: it is to prevent squeaking, creaking, and grinding from people walking over it.
For what purpose would tongue and groove plywood be appropriate?
Tongue-and-groove plywood is superior to regular plywood for floor decks because it creates a stronger, more rigid subfloor, and helps eliminate sagging and “bounce” at the seams between the joists.
Why do people have tongue-and-groove flooring?
Advantages. Tongue and groove floors feature tight seams, requiring a minimal amount of nailing or gluing to hold the boards together. With proper coating, tongue and groove can even be water-tight. This applies to site-finished flooring, not pre-finished.
Which plywood is best for flooring?
Interior plywood is ideal for rooms not exposed to moisture, such as bedrooms, and makes a good subfloor for carpeting, tiles, vinyl, engineered wood laminate flooring and hardwood flooring. Exterior plywood is a better choice for bathrooms, kitchens and any other rooms exposed to water and moisture.
Do you need tongue and groove plywood for subfloor?
For subflooring, you use tongue and groove plywood. The tongue and groove are only along the 8 foot edges. On the four foot edges, your seams will fall on joist tops, so no need for tongue and groove. But to start off, we will need to remove the tongue so the plywood is tight with the exterior ICF walls.
Does tongue and groove add strength?
A. The tongue-and-groove joint doesn’t add strength, but it does help to distribute loads to adjacent panels, improving the perceived stiffness of the floor. T&G plywood was developed as a labor-saving alternative to installing solid wood blocking at unsupported panel edges.
Can you use plywood as flooring?
As a finished flooring
(And yes, you can have plywood flooring over a plywood subfloor.) You can cut plywood into planks or special shapes and lay them in whatever pattern you prefer. Some plywood flooring designs even mimic traditional wood parquet floors or mosaics.
Should I use tongue and groove for flooring?
Although tongue and groove can apply to other types of floors, it is a staple of a good hardwood floor. When constructed by gluing together tongue and groove boards, hardwood floors are smooth and free of nails, making them both visually appealing and safe to walk on barefoot.
Is tongue and groove flooring good?
Today’s hard-surface flooring is smooth and level, due in large part to the way it’s installed. Tongue and groove, a method of connecting board planks, is attractive and creates a uniform floor that’s even durable enough for homes with dogs.
Do you need tongue and groove for flooring?
Tongue and groove edges lock hardwood-flooring planks together along the seams, ensuring a snug fit and hiding finishing nails, but it is possible to install a wood floor without an interlocking system.
Is it better to use OSB or plywood for subfloor?
OSB has a lower resale value than plywood due to its lower strength. For this reason, few homeowners prefer OSB in their homes. Apart from costs, plywood is superior in all the other areas, such as the strength of the structure. For this reason, it’s a superior material for use on the subfloor.
Does the tongue or groove go against the wall subfloor?
Which side is the tongue, which the groove, and which goes first during installation? The tongue is the side that you will want to place against the wall as you start your laminate-flooring installation.
What size plywood should be used for a subfloor?
The recommended thickness of the plywood subfloor is governed by the spacing of the joists. Some experts suggest that 15/32-inch plywood should be standard if the underlying floor joists are spaced 16 inches apart or less, but slightly thicker 3/4-inch plywood should be used for joists spaced further apart.
What is the best subfloor for hardwood floors?
Plywood
Hardwood flooring: Plywood is the best subfloor for hardwood flooring installation. CDX plywood ranging from 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick and rated A/C will serve well for any hardwood flooring installation. Tongue-and-groove plywood is available to reduce squeaks and help the subfloor fit together better.
What is best subfloor material?
Plywood
Plywood. Plywood is considered the most popular material used for subflooring, it has been used since the 1950s and remains one of the top choices for contractors. Standard plywood works perfectly fine as a subflooring material, but the best option is ¾” tongue-and-groove plywood subflooring.
Can you use half inch plywood for flooring?
Glue is sprayed between each layer and the sheet is hot pressed. CDX plywood should be a minimum of 7/16 inch thick. The thicknesses are as follows: 7/16-, 15/32- and 1/2-inch-thick panels require joists spaced 16 inches on center; 19/32- and 5/8-inch-thick panels require joists spaced 20 inches on center.
How thick should plywood be to walk on?
The thinner plywood is acceptable when the joist spacing is 16 inches. If you plan to finish the floor in the attic and turn the room into a living space, however, you should always use 3/4-inch plywood. Thinner plywood can flex when you walk on it — even with 16-inch spacing — and this will damage the flooring.
Do you need two layers of subfloor?
The subfloor has to be attached to the joists, and two subfloor layers glued together or just nailed through to the joists, is no different than one thicker subfloor layer.
What thickness plywood should I use for bathroom flooring?
Make Sure Your Subfloor is Structurally Stable
The installation guide for 1/4 inch HardieBacker recommends having wood subfloors made of 5/8 inch exterior grade plywood or OSB (oriented strand board) that is 23/32 inches thick.
What kind of plywood do you use under tile?
Exterior grade or plywood should be used for the substrate. Under no conditions should you use veneer-bond plywood. Veneer plywood is interior-grade plywood that has a top and bottom layer of very thin hardwood bonded to it.
What is best subfloor for bathroom?
plywood subfloor
Pressure treated 3/4″ plywood subfloor is the best subfloor material for bathrooms. Pressure treated plywood is water resistant and will withstand the humid, damp bathroom environment much better than untreated plywood or OSB.
