New floor for bedroom - what materials?

fifthofwhisky

I've taken up the old floor in a bedroom to install acoustic insulation to reduce noise from the kitchen below. The old floor was 3/4" or 18mm spruce (a mix of original and more recent boards). The joists are approx 40cm apart. To maintain the same height to the adjacent floor, i.e. landing, I'd need to use 18mm boarding.

Flooring grade tongue and groove chipboard seems to be common these days. Are there any reasons why I should not use it? What about plywood? The cost for plain plywood boards (straight edge) or tongue and groove can be cheaper or more expensive respectively.

Boards are either 2400x600 (tongue and groove) or 2400x1200 for sheet. I'm leaning towards the smaller boards for ease of handling making the chipboard the cheaper option.

Doozergirl

The tongue and groove of the chipboard can make it hard to access the joists underneath for any reason once it's laid. We now have a magic jig to get under the boards in newer houses that allows us to drill out discs and put them back again.

It might also be harder to lay sheets of T&G if your skirting is still intact.

It's also a bit rubbish. Can expand if it gets wet etc.

Developers use it because it's cheap and quick to lay before anything else goes in, including stud walls. :rolleyes:

Norman_Castle

After doing this can you update the thread with the effectiveness of the acoustic insulation? Thanks.