i bought my house 2 years ago, it was built in 1964. it has the washer and dryer in the far end of a large kitchen. i'm adding a wall to divide to have a "laundry / pantry" i pulled tile under that is a plywood looks maybe 1/8" then 3/4 particle board. then 1/2" plywood, some particle has water damage one reason why i'm pulling it all. would a house built in 1964 in TN use 1/2 plywood as the sub floor? is replacing the 1/2 with 1/2" plywood going to be ok? or is there a better 1/2"? i plan on putting a laminate wood floor over the plywood. any help and ideas will be greatly appreciated

 

Welcome to the forums! In the time frame you mention, yes, building practices (not code) probably did allow for a 1/2" plywood, then particle board. The worst flooring in the world, IMO. Are you doing a complete floor removal, or just in the new proposed laundry area? Anywhere you expose particle board, I would replace it with 3/4" Advantech or or other subflooring material. Not sure what your 1/2" looks like, but ideally it should not be on the bottom, although it probably won't hurt to leave it there and subfloor over it with 3/4". Let us know the extent of your flooring remodel, and please don't put laminate in a laundry area.

 

I second the recommendation to use 3/4" Advantech (it's actually 23/32" thick) in place of your top two layers if the plywood bottom layer is in good shape. If your 1/2" plywood bottom layer is shot I would do two layers of Advantech. Your current floor is about 1 3/8" thick and two layers of 23/32" Advantech would be only about 1/16" thicker.

I've used a lot of Advantech in the past 10 years and love it. It's more expensive than particle board and OSB but it's a much better product and worth it's price. It's incredibly strong and extremely moisture resistant.

 

thank you for the welcome and the replies i must clarify a bit.going from the living room to the kitchen you stepped up about an inch, hardwood in the living room and throughout the house. i want to go back to "normal" in there current plans are just the kitchen area to redo. now, going down to the joist will 1/2 be ok? do i need to add any barrier or just liquid nails then screw?

 

Your last post confused me.

Are you just redoing the floor at the end of the kitchen to create a laundry room or are you doing the whole kitchen floor? Do you want to lower the laundry room and kitchen floor to be level with the hard wood in the rest of your house?

You say you want to go back to normal. What is normal? A Republican President? All the floors in the house at the same level? Gas costing less than a dollar a gallon?

When you ask if going down to the joist will 1/2 be OK? Will 1/2 of what be OK? Are you only going to remove half the subfloor in the laundry area down to the floor joists? Or, are you thinking of going back with some new 1/2 sheeting (OSB, plywood, Advantech...)?

Any barrier where? A vapor barrier to a crawl space below?

 

sorry, I'm going down to the joist in the whole kitchen. i will be dividing this are into 2 spaces the kitchen and laundry room. i did not proof read well 1/2 i meant 1/2". normal meaning if there was originally 1/2" plywood is that going be ok? yes vapor barrier to crawl space

 

Yes, as long as you have the floor up I would do a vapor barrier since access will be much easier. I like to put 6 mil plastic over all the crawl space (on the dirt) to keep the moisture in the soil and prevent it from even entering the crawl space.

It sounds like part of your house has been added on or built at a different time creating the different floor levels. I do not think you can get the kitchen floor level with the rest of the house since that only leaves you about 3/8" for floor sheeting and finish flooring. You can NOT use a single layer of 1/2" as your sub floor. I would use a single layer of 23/32" (3/4") Advantech. It's approved for 24" joist spacing and it's really good and solid over 16" joist spacing. They do make a thinner 19/32" approved for up to 20" joist spacing but for what little floor height you'd gain I would much rather have the good solid floor of the 23/32" material, plus the 23/32" is more widely available so you should be able to find it without special order.

 

thank you for your help, i do have plastic sheeting on the ground already. floor joists on 16oc.what is the best way to cut the sub floor down to the joist? my circular saw has about a 1 and 1/2" base thats where i was gonna stop when replacing it with 1/2" plywood.

 

i checked lowes and home depot online for "Advantech" and neither had it it common? and i think flooring was replaced for water damage at somepoint but looks like the 1/2" was original.

 

I use a reciprocating saw (Sawzall) to get right up to the wall and I've got an old circular saw I cut off the part of the shoe that sticks out on the blade side, just for getting up to walls. I have seen purpose made circular saws (expensive) for the job but it's cheaper to get a cheap $50 saw or an old one and modify.

I don't think Lowes or Home Depot carries Advantech. Check with old fashioned lumber yards or contractor supply stores.

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I think I was up your way last weekend. We took the back way from Asheville up to Beech Mt. NC. on 26 and through Roan Mountain.

 

I think HD calls their version of subflooring "Home Advantage".

 

I've tried what Lowes says is the same and I just don't like it as well as Advantech.

Here's the link to Advantech on the Lowes website. Maybe they have it but can't find it or don't know what they've got. The item number (85795) should help.

Yea, I know. If I ask in my store they say they don't carry it either. They used to stock it so I don't know if it's just something left in their computer system.

 

wow only 17.97 a sheet. is it tongue and groove? yes, that was right by me. is the home depot stuff made by the same company?

 

If your price is $17.97 I am jealous. It came up at $22.48 for me. Yes, it is tongue and grooved since that product is made specifically for flooring. Here they've got a locator to where you can buy their products.

The manufacturer is Huber and the brand of that product is "Advantech" so if it does not say "Advantech" then it's probably something different.

I've never gone to their website until looking up stuff or this thread and now I know why I like it so well. The specs seem really good for it.

 

yup thats what it shows online. one last question, i think do i need to rip off the tongue or groove side when starting against the wall?

 

You can rip the tongue off if you like. I'd leave the groove end as it is flat and factory finished. The reason I like the Advantech brand is it has a wax-like impregnation that sheds water really well. When framing a house, invariably it will rain before it is dried in. Water will bead up on Advantech and you can sweep it off with no ill effects like warping or separation.

 

I logged into the Lowes store in Elizabethton and found this:


Shop AdvanTech 23/32 x 4 x 8 OSB Subfloor at Lowes.com