Best material to use to replace floorboard?

[Mr Sparkle]

My floorboard (not tongue and groove) has many gap from being lifted many times over the years

With all the gaps, sound from above travels/ can be heard downstairs.. Which I do not want

In this scenario, should I just overboard the existing floorboard? If so, with what material?

or should I lift up the existing floorboard and replace this with another material? If so, with what?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Lifting and replacing a floor is always a lot more work than and a lot more expensive than repairing and overboarding, so it depends on how bad the floor now is (impossible to estimate without dome photographs) and what your end requirement is - do you want sanded and sealed floorboards, lino, vinyl or carpet.

IMHO without that sort of info it is impossible to advise you sensibly

 

[Mr Sparkle]

Lifting and replacing a floor is always a lot more work than and a lot more expensive than repairing and overboarding, so it depends on how bad the floor now is (impossible to estimate without dome photographs) and what your end requirement is - do you want sanded and sealed floorboards, lino, vinyl or carpet.

IMHO without that sort of info it is impossible to advise you sensibly

The rooms in question are three bedrooms, a bathroom and landing

The bathroom will be tiled

The bedrooms will either have a carpet or LVTfinish

The floor isn't too bad, however there are many gaps.

My priority is to have a sound proof/dampened floor.

The last thing I want is footsteps above being heard in the downstairs living room

 

[foxhole]

Footsteps are transferred thru the timber , gaps in boards will have zero effect on the noise transmission .

 

[JohnD]

..... gaps in boards will have zero effect on the noise transmission .

except for airbourne sound such as speech, radio, TV, barking dog, crying baby, bagpipes....

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The last thing I want is footsteps above being heard in the downstairs living room

Repair the damaged boards with plywood repair pieces cut tight to the existing boards and packed-up to match the level of the existing boards if required. Overclad the entire floors with 6mm plywood, screwed down at 150 to 200mm centres. Lay a heavy felt of rubber underlay on top of that (it is possible to get acoustic underlay as well), then your carpet. Avoid hard surfaces such as laminate flooring.

Other than that you are going to get into a serious amount of work and loadsa dosh to do a full soundproofing job

 

[foxhole]

except for airbourne sound such as speech, radio, TV, barking dog, crying baby, bagpipes....

OP’s concern was footsteps

 

[JohnD]

I've been surprised how badly noise can travel between floors if you let it. I had a house where the thick L&P ceilings came down, and it was like being in the same room. Radios and conversations, clattering cutlery, drawers being opened...

In my current house I am gradually packing the floors with mineral wool and having the ceilings skimmed, and sealing any gaps with pink foam or sealant caulk

 

[foxhole]

I've been surprised how badly noise can travel between floors if you let it. I had a house where the thick L&P ceilings came down, and it was like being in the same room. Radios and conversations, clattering cutlery, drawers being opened...

In my current house I am gradually packing the floors with mineral wool and having the ceilings skimmed, and sealing any gaps with pink foam or sealant caulk

Good for you .

 

[JohnD]

Thank you.

Maybe OP feels the same.

With all the gaps, sound from above travels/ can be heard downstairs.. Which I do not want

 

[Mr Sparkle]

OP’s concern was footsteps

Probably my fault for not specifically mentioning..

But I don't want any/ excessive sounds from the 1st floor being heard downstairs and vice versa...

So it could be a conversation, footsteps, music, impact noise etc

In my current house I am gradually packing the floors with mineral wool and having the ceilings skimmed, and sealing any gaps with pink foam or sealant caulk

Brilliant - I will definately use foam to seal any gaps, particularly at the edges

As part of the job, we were already planning to use this opportunity to insulate the floor. Glad that's going to help block/dampen the sounds

Then overboard with 6mm Ply or chipboard (depending on what's cheapest)

Thanks for the help guys

 

[opps]

Chipboard will be cheaper, because it is vastly inferior. Unless it is the "moisture resistant stuff, it will expand if someone spills water on the floor.

I don't even think that you can get 6mm moisture resistant chipboard.

At the risk of sounding curt @JobAndKnock gave you sound advice regarding the 6mm ply. They guy knows what he is talking about, if he considered chipboard to be equally suitable, I honestly believe that he would have mentioned it.

Sorry, I am not trying to give you a hard time, I appreciate that you are trying to minimise costs but it might have been prudent to ask if chipboard is a suitable substitute for ply rather than giving the impression that you were ignoring the advice given. For the record, I do not believe that was your intention.

 

[Mr Sparkle]

Chipboard will be cheaper, because it is vastly inferior. Unless it is the "moisture resistant stuff, it will expand if someone spills water on the floor.

I don't even think that you can get 6mm moisture resistant chipboard.

At the risk of sounding curt @JobAndKnock gave you sound advice regarding the 6mm ply. They guy knows what he is talking about, if he considered chipboard to be equally suitable, I honestly believe that he would have mentioned it.

Sorry, I am not trying to give you a hard time, I appreciate that you are trying to minimise costs but it might have been prudent to ask if chipboard is a suitable substitute for ply rather than giving the impression that you were ignoring the advice given. For the record, I do not believe that was your intention.

Apologies for the way that came across. I am aware that @JobAndKnock knows his onions, so did not intend to look down on the advice given

As you have already noticed, I am keen to stop the sound travelling but at a low price

I will ignore the chipboard idea, as it is an inferior product as you mentioned.

@JobAndKnock would general purpose plywood suffice?

Also could Structural OSB 9mm be used as well?

Once again, I appreciate the advice given, I am just trying to see whether I can maintain my budget, while doing a good job.

 

[foxhole]

Decent underlay and thick carpet are most effective option.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Then overboard with 6mm Ply or chipboard (depending on what's cheapest)

As @opps says, it isn't an and/or type option between plywood and chipboard overcladding. Chipboard is normally only usable in thicknesses of 15mm or greater (in fact other than for special purposes such as upholstery framing or packing cases it is pretty difficult to source in thicknesses less than 12mm - never seen P5 flooring grade in less than 18mm), so I'm pretty sure it never gets used for overcladding. Plywood is readily available, and in any case is a lot stiffer than chipboard for a given thickness

would general purpose plywood suffice?

Also could Structural OSB 9mm be used as well?

I'm not sure what you mean by "general purpose plywood". You don't often see softwood plywood in thicknesses less than 15mm, so if you ask a timber merchant for 6mm plywood he would most likely supply a hardwood plywood. To be certain you should specify "H/W plywood". The cheapest stuff is generally Chinese these days, but that is perfectly adequate for this task

If cost is such a factor, you might be able to go to 4mm plywood instead, however, this will only work if your floor is already pretty flat. 6mm being stiffer will take out any height discrepancies better

As to OSB, it is adding weight and I find it doesn't screw (down) as well as plywood (it's awkward to get the screws to self-countersink because it is so hard, and at approx. 150 screws per sheet you really don't want to have to pre-pilot and countersink that lot). It also has a coarser surface which can require a layer of SLC (self levelling compound) for some flooring materials like vinyl or linoleum, as you see in bathrooms

Bear in mind that the thicker the material build-up on the floors the more you will have to trim off the bottoms of the doors. You may get away with laying 4mm ply without the need to trim the door bottoms (that is if your doors were hung by one of those guys who insists on leaving a 12mm gap beneath the door); 6mm will almost certainly requre some trimming; 9 or 11mm OSB will require a lot more trimming. In the absence of being able to hire a jamb saw this will mean taking every door off, trimming it and then replacing it (a circular saw and straight edge guide task) - I hope you are feeling fit! And FYI the modern standard for gapping under doors is 4mm (this is the FIRAS standard for fire doors but is taken to be the general standard for all doors now)