Replacing bedroom floor

[lewis.baker]

heyo

I'm going to be replacing the floor of an upstairs bedroom pretty soon, the floorboards are pretty deteriorated, cracks and holes and completely uneven from various single and half boards being replaced over the years, just generally in good need of replacing and the carpet is getting done soon so I figured while it's up I might as well take advantage of the situation. I was looking at rather than using new floorboards instead using chipboard (or plywood, not sure yet) as it's just a bedroom and the floor is going to be covered with carpet anyway.

The few things I'm unsure about though are chipboard vs ply, some people say chipboard is fine others say it'll disintegrate with the slightest spill of water etc, and whether to use T&G or not - seems to me like T&G might be a bit more rigid and sturdy at the joints but an absolute nightmare to fetch up if access under the floor is ever needed, so I'm on the fence there.

Another thing is the floor is not currently insulated, and wondering if insulating it might be a good idea, mostly to help with sound transmission to/from the kitchen underneath the bedroom as right now you can almost hear clear conversations between the two rooms.

I'd appreciate any advice anyone can give me on this topic, thanks.

 

[Leofric]

Tongue and groove flooring grade moisture resistant chipboard screwed down to joists ,18mm thickness for joist centres up to 400mm, 22mm thickness up to 600mm centres. 100mm sound insulation packed tight between joists, 15mm Soundbloc board and skim ceiling. Sound insulation type to be confirmed ,can't remember the reference just now. Others will no doubt advise.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

If using T&G chipboard ensure that all the joints are glued (D4 PVA or D4 PU) and have sufficient numbers of screws (not nails) to fix them down. Better installations also use D4 PU glue to glue the chipboard to the joists as this eliminates any potential for movement. It does mean that if you need future access to wiring, etc you will need to think about the location of any access hatches/panels which should be installed at the same time as you install the flooring (although just how often will this happen?). On the rare occurrences where it is necessary I prefer plywood for such access panels.

Chipboard will not disintegrate with the "slightest spill of water" (there are some folk on the 'net who talk utter garbage on this subject, and there is also a lot of snobbery in comments on this subject as well) although if water leaks onto chipboard over many years it will rot, but so will softwood floorboards. Where moisture is to be expected (e.g bathrooms, toilets, kitchens, etc) you'd normally want to specify a moisture-resistant board, such as P5. As with so many things in life there are differences in quality between makes with Egger coming out as one of the best makes and Caber as another good manufacturer

 

[wwwebber]

Tongue and groove flooring grade moisture resistant chipboard screwed down to joists ,18mm thickness for joist centres up to 400mm, 22mm thickness up to 600mm centres. 100mm sound insulation packed tight between joists, 15mm Soundbloc board and skim ceiling. Sound insulation type to be confirmed ,can't remember the reference just now. Others will no doubt advise.

I used 100mm Rockwool RW3 myself this weekend in our bedroom floor for sound / thermal insulation.

 

[Leofric]

You can get impact sound deadening underlay and a thick carpet helps as well.