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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Installing your 1/2'' Plywood
Our standard letter if you are about to install your 1/2'' Plywood.


Date: _________________________

You are about to install your 1/2'' Plywood.

Subfloor construction:

For all hard-surface floor coverings that are to be installed over a suspended plywood subfloor, the subfloor should be a minimum of 1 1/4 inch thick, and the top layer of plywood should be exterior grade [an ideal situation would be two layers of 5/8 exterior - the top layer having the sanded side facing upward]. Both layers should be nailed into the joists using coated or threaded flooring nails and the heads of the nails should be flush with the finish surface of the plywood subfloor - not sticking up and definitely not too far in - particularly in the case of screws.
Do not toenail at random on the top layer. any nail or screw that is not seated into solid wood should be removed and replaced [not in the same hole - especially a screw that has "spun out"].
All seams of plywood should never span more than 16 inches without being nailed into a joist. The seams of each layer of subfloor should be staggered so that they do not line up one over the other, and on the top layer there should never be a point where four corners of plywood converge. An ideal nailing sequence on the top layer would be every eight inches in every direction in the field, and every four inches along all seams. It is always a good practice to glue layers of plywood both to joists and to each other, but it is not necessary. leave the "leveling" of the seams to the flooring mechanic as that is usually part of his service, and he would likely prefer it that way. This method of installing subfloors is suitable for all types of floor coverings, but is specifically detailed here with the following floor coverings in mind:

  • All sheet vinyls and linoleums
  • All solid vinyl and reinforced vinyl tiles
    and
  • All ceramic tiles
[whenever possible, the final subfloor thickness for ceramic tile is 1 1/2 inches - but it is not absolutely necessary].

Thank you for realizing that a floor covering's performance is largely determined by the surface and base that it is adhered to.


The Floor Store
12 Main Street
West Stockbridge, MA
Tel: 413 232 7175  Fax: 413 232 4659
USA 01266

9AM to 4PM Tuesday through Friday - Saturdays from 9AM til noon

The family owned and operated flooring experts, serving New England with fine flooring for over 20 years.

info@the-floorstore.com

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