Hardwood over old pine - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

painterman · 01-07-2007, 05:59 PM

I need to install a new hardwood floor over an existing t&g pine floor. Existing floor is about 100 years old in sound condtion. My question is should I first sheet up the floor with plywood,say 3/8 or 1/2 inch before setting the new floor material or just nail to new floor directly to the old floor. Thanks

**Teetorbilt** · 01-07-2007, 06:31 PM

Is the new floor to run in the same direction as the old?

painterman · 01-07-2007, 07:29 PM

Yes the new floor will be going the same direction as the old floor.

Ted W · 01-07-2007, 09:50 PM

Can you remove the old pine floor?

I think if you lay the new floor directly on the pine the joints will probably open up as the pine expands and contracts with climate changes, more so than the hardwood will. Laying plywood first will eliminate that happening but then you're really building that floor up pretty thick. I don't think 3/8" plywood is thick enough for the nails to grab, so you're looking at least 1/2" ply plus the 3/4" new floor. If your customer is okay with that, I guess it's their call. Removing the old flooring is a lot of work, thus they'll have to pay a lot of extra, but the end product will be a whole lot nicer.

Onparole · 01-07-2007, 10:07 PM

I am currently dealing with a 90 year old 3/4" pine plank 3" wide (sub floor). I was thinking of using 3/4" 5" wide plank flooring on top of it. The sub floor runs opposite the the floor joists as it should. Two questions?

1. Should the new flooring run the same direction as the original flooring since it was planked, or should it run opposite the original floor even though then it would run the same way as the floor joists which is normally a no no.

2. What type of underlayment should I use? 3/8 ply or just kraft paper for smooth installation? The original floor seems even.

Thanks

RenaissanceR · 01-08-2007, 07:50 AM

On a lot of the old homes I've worked on, the floor consists of 2 layers of
3/4 pine flooring. I remove the top layer, then install the new flooring. Granted it's more work, but it bypasses the issue of undercutting the baseboards and doors/trim.