Steps To Fit Solid Wood Flooring On Chipboard
Chipboard is also known as paperboard or cardboard that is actually a thick layer of pressed fibers made of recycled paper. Chipboard is not an ideal choice to install solid wood flooring but if the flooring is installed correctly, it should not have any issues. The steps to lay solid wood flooring on chipboard are as under:
- Determine Material Quantity:
Before starting the process, the user needs to purchase the required solid wood flooring for which he has to measure the length & width of the flooring. In order to determine the exact quantity of material required for the process, the user needs to multiply the length with width to get the square feet area to which extra 10% should be added for errors. - Determine Installation Method:
There are three methods by which solid wood flooring can be installed over chipboard i.e. floating installation method, stapling method, and the gluing method. The easiest method among three is floating, followed by stapling, and the difficult one is gluing. - Acclimate The Wood:
After the user purchases the solid wood flooring, he needs to leave it inside the place of installation to acclimate the wood. The step will also ensure that the user will not run into any problems during installation or afterward. - Prepare Subfloor:
The subfloor preparation depends upon the method by which the user has to lay his solid wood flooring. If the user is installing the flooring with a floating method, he needs to put an appropriate underlayment pad over the chipboard. If the user has chosen the stapling method, he needs to put felt paper above the chipboard. For gluing method, the user needs to spread some adhesive over the chipboard by using a trowel. - Lay The Flooring:
Once the subfloor is prepared, the user needs to lay the solid wood flooring over it as per the chosen method. It has been recommended by the experts to start from the corner of the floor and work towards the exit. The user needs to lay the first flooring board and then lay another flooring board vertical to it. If the user has chosen the floating method, he needs to glue the joints of the boards together followed by laying the boards over the underlayment pad. In the stapling method, the user needs to shoot some staples into the chipboard by going through the tongue diagonally. If gluing the flooring, the user needs to press the flooring boards down into the glue spread over the chipboard. - Finishing Up:
If the flooring board doesn't fit in during the installation process, the user needs to cut it down as per the required gap. If the user has chosen the gluing method, he needs to leave something heavy over the flooring until the glue dries. The solid wood floorings installed by using the floating and stapling methods can be used straight away.