Hardboard

bonkers12

Hi all, we will be having the stairs ,hallway and landing area carpeted next week, ive taken the old carpet up and the area on the landing has uneven floorboards, the carpet chap who came to measure up said put some hardboard down to even the floor up, i cut some hardboard up and have tacked it down and its looking quite even not being a great d.i.y person i just read that i should have laid the hardboard shiny side down which i havent, i assume rough side up is to stop the underlay from slipping but wont the underlay be stapled or nailed down? so my questions as a thick non diy is will it be ok to leave as shiny side up ? the guy who i brought the hardboard from gave me some tacks to nail the hardboard down ,could you recommend a nail type i should use? thank you.

cattie

Absolutely fine, so don't worry. Plenty of hardboard gets laid with shiny side up & causes no problem whatsoever. The floor being level is the main thing.

bonkers12

Thank you cattie very much for replying.:D

flashg67

Hardboard in mine is nailed with the standard 'blue' tacks and is fine

cyclonebri1

As above, so underlay will be stapled so no issue.

I'd actually say shiney side up is best, it's not going to abrade the open rubbery surface of the underside of the underlay.

bonkers12

Thank's flashg67 for your reply

Mr.Generous

hardboard is usually 3.2mm thick and floorboards are a minimum 18mm thick so any tacks or nails used make sure they are 20mm or less so you dont hit a wire or pipe beneath the floor. Ive seen heating pipes literally pressed down by floorboards when lifting floors so dont assume any margin of safety once you reach depth of solid floor.
Even existing nail holes can be over a pipe, when heating is fitted they might have left nails out where they knew pipes ran, it could even be gas pipe to fit a fire, boiler or whatever. And yes I speak from experience, nailed into heating pipes twice now, and at some point if I'm not really checking properly Ill probably do it again. Not a massive issue in a renovation project, floors are up in the early stages for heating, plumbing and wiring. I'd hate to do it on a decorated property.

bonkers12

Thank you all for replying, the carpet has now been fitted and all's well, hopefully my black thumb nail will soon be on the mend as well, i reckon i broke the record for how many time's my thumb and hammer came into contact....thanks to all again.