Plywood for finished floor


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Old 04-09-11, 12:47 PM
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Plywood for finished floor

Each week, as I get older, I am being challenged. This past week a client wants her concrete basement (water/moisture free) floored with plywood. I know I had the deer in the headlights look, but I fell for it. She was serious. Anyone out there ever dealt with fastening this stuff down? I guess I could use PL product and glue it down, but I'd hate to have one little booger sticking up anywhere. Mechanical fasteners aren't out of the question. I suggested we could use something like Spax with countersink.
I'm in the planning stage, so give all the help you can. Here's a sample. Oh, she is planning on using 3/4" Birch plywood.
 
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Old 04-09-11, 02:06 PM
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I've never see good plywood used as a floor as shown, but I have seen a lot of 3/4" AC left down for years and one thing I've always noticed are the hidden voids that don't show up until you walk on them. Given the lack of quality in materials and the problem with "how would you ever replace a sheet?" the project would scare the dickens out of me.

Now, as for the basement concrete being (water and moisture free), rarely happens. Even if you could overlook the fact that basements are where all water leaks ends up, unless the concrete was installed with extreme care and detail, I'm talking drainage and water barrier membranes, then basically the concrete is in contact with the soil. That means there is and always will be some moisture passing up through the concrete. We don't see it because it evaporates. You can use the old 3' square of plastic test, but the moisture meter or whatever the hardwood floor guys use is probably best.

I know they do install wood floors in basements, but it seems high risk to me, especially with a new material.

Bud
 
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Old 04-09-11, 02:39 PM
J
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Plywood should never be used as a finsihed floor.
How do you plan on hide all the seams.
Plywood needs room to expand and contract that's why it's stamped with a 1/8 spacing lable.
It's plys, wear through the first ply and it's trash.
Birch is a soft wood, not a good choice for a floor.
 
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Old 04-09-11, 03:16 PM
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Bud, I agree, there hasn't been a dry basement, nor a square wall built in my lifetime. I told them I would do a moisture test and if it showed ANY moisture under the plastic the deal was off and they had to go with something else.
Joe, you have minimal veneer to sand, so getting the edges to be perfect will require floating the concrete at a minimum.
We'll wait on the moisture test, as I am sure it will fail. Then I can talk her into some nice ceramic tile with throw rugs on it. It is a weekend, getaway cabin or rental cabin, so it would have no comparison to the pix above.
Thanks for the input so far. It will be ammunition for me when I give her the word.
 
 

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