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Old 11-11-2013, 08:10 AM
 
Location: Kings Park & Jamesport
3,180 posts, read 10,518,373 times
Reputation: 1092

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Quote:
Originally Posted by kaymacca View Post
The boards in the closet are about 4" wide (don't know how long) with about a 1/4" gap between them. So before I start pulling up the particle board only to find out I should have left it down as a base for a new hardwood floor I was curious if they could be refinished. Not looking for perfection and would be putting an area rug down any way. Thanks for your help.
No...sorry. You can install hardwood floor over it or laminate
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Old 11-11-2013, 03:04 PM
 
Location: Long Island, NY
50 posts, read 87,352 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kayo_michael View Post
You're not supposed to finish a "sub" floor. It's the structural layer below your actual floor that you finish and make beautiful.

Put OSB (oriented strand board) sheeting over it, then a vapor barrier, and lay hardwood floor on top of the vapor barrier.

Using particle board in flooring is NOT A GOOD IDEA. Particle board will swell and crumble with any moisture. It's the stuff IKEA furniture is made out of.
The particle board near the radiator is crumbling like saw dust. I guess the radiator was leaking at one time. So I should remove the particle board anyway?
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Old 11-13-2013, 07:36 AM
 
90 posts, read 216,323 times
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yes, remove the particle board, inspect all of the sub floor and look for rot, if its all goog to go throw some plywood down then pergo, carpet, or whatever you want. I would look real hard at where its turned in to sawdust for any other rot in the subfloor and adjacent structure. If its water stained i woudl pull it up. Thats the beauty of woking on a 70 year old house, you get to uncover years of neglect and jerry rigging and a honey do of "repalce that old carpet" turns into repairing a radiator, replacing a floor, and termite repair of the structure, as well as rewiring the upstairs bucause when you pull the subfloor you see that nothing is insulated or grounded...
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Old 11-13-2013, 07:44 AM
 
Location: Village of Patchogue, NY
1,144 posts, read 2,984,061 times
Reputation: 616
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaymacca View Post
The particle board near the radiator is crumbling like saw dust. I guess the radiator was leaking at one time. So I should remove the particle board anyway?
Yup. That's exactly what you're seeing. That saw dust is particleboard failure from moisture.

Particle board is not meant to be used as an underlayment. It should be pulled up and replaced with OSB.

If you keep the particleboard in place, spills and leaks (part of life, it WILL happen) will permeate into the particleboard and ruin the structural integrity under your beautiful wood floors, which will begin to rot, mold, crumble, and sag. It will have to be pulled up and repaired anyway, so why not do it right the first time?

Also, make sure to put a moisture barrier between the OSB and final flooring material.

Good luck!
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