i want to install 3/4 solid hardwood floor. the subfloor is 3/4" OSB with a pretty thick layer of leveling cement over it... it is 1/2 inch thick in some places. My neighbor said that when he tried to install hardwood in his condo (right next to mine so it is the same construction), the nails could not penetrate the leveling compound.. he said the nails bent and curled away from the floor instead of penetrating it. Perhaps a more robust nail (high carbon steel) would allow me to penetrate the leveling compound and get into the OSB? thanks for any help - mark
flooring nails will penetrate leveling compound?
Oct 21, 2006
2 Replies
Your neighbour is not a suitable source of advice if he does not know that levelling cement is a undesirable surface on which to lay hardwood flooring. (It may be unavoidable for you -- hard luck -- but you should not expect standard techniques to work on a non-standard base.)
thank you. he ended up screwing plywood to the subfloor and then the hardwood over the plywood. do you think that is the best way to go?
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