Levelling floorboards with e.g. hardboard

dc197

The previous owners lifted the floorboards on the landing to change pipework. In doing so, the top half of the chipboard became damaged around the edges. There are a few areas on the landing where there are essentially indentations that are about 1cm deep. You can feel it through the carpet.

The carpets are up and before i relay them I want to level these imperfections. I want to lay something thin but stiff over the whole landing, not just over the holes. As thin as posible, just a few mm.

Is hardboard a good choice? If not, why not and what else should I consider?

Thanks in advance

AndyMc.....

You'd save a lot of work with a bit of filler.

Tom99

3mm MDF would also be ok if you have room under the doors.

unrecordings

Before we had lino put down in the kitchen, the fitters recommended we put 3mm plywood down over the bare floorboards. There something about the kind of nails to use, but I've long forgotten - I think the gist of it being you need to make sure the nail heads are flush with the surface.

mchale

As in post 2, maybe sawdust & wood glue mixed

omendata

Dont bodge it by filling unless you really need to save money.

You could fit 3mm ply but it raises the level of the floor - something i always have problems with when i am tiling and laying a new subfloor for customers and explain to them why there has to be an edging strip at the doors to the rooms!

Personally i would do the job right and lift the boards and re-lay them (chipboard is cheap anyway) its the professional thing to do , anything else is just bodging it imho and you will end up with problems with warping boards if someone spills water or rain gets in etc etc etc - its always best to do the job right the first time really as you pay cheap , pay twice im my experience!

I presume you are fitting underlay before you fit the carpets so that may help if its tough and the cracks are small you may not notice it once the carpet goes on top depending on how tough the carpet is as well - i would try it out with some underlay and carpet scraps first!

Norman_Castle

Tidy the dips and fit wood into them. Easy with a router.

no1catman

Put down an underlay, one that has a bit of 'give' in it to even out any undulations in the floor, and put your new floor on top.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

omendata wrote: »

Dont bodge it by filling unless you really need to save money.

You could fit 3mm ply but it raises the level of the floor - something i always have problems with when i am tiling and laying a new subfloor for customers and explain to them why there has to be an edging strip at the doors to the rooms!

Personally i would do the job right and lift the boards and re-lay them (chipboard is cheap anyway) its the professional thing to do , anything else is just bodging it imho and you will end up with problems with warping boards if someone spills water or rain gets in etc etc etc - its always best to do the job right the first time really as you pay cheap , pay twice im my experience!

I presume you are fitting underlay before you fit the carpets so that may help if its tough and the cracks are small you may not notice it once the carpet goes on top depending on how tough the carpet is as well - i would try it out with some underlay and carpet scraps first!

I agree with this, get some 8x2 moisture resistant tongue and groove chipboard (maybe about 10-12 a sheet plus VAT) and a box of Spax 60mm flooring screws from Screwfix.

Take the old boards up and lay new, you can cut the board fairly easily with a decent hand saw (circular saw is better if you have one but wouldn't buy one just for this job).

Make sure to glue between the tongue and groove and don't be stingy with the screws (obviously note where any pipes or cables are before screwing down the boards).

I'd be tempted to glue the boards to the joists as well, although it will make it very difficult to rip them up if you ever need to in the future there won't be any squeaking.

It's a relatively easy job if you are DIY minded.

dc197

Thanks folks. My DIY skills are not quite up to replacing the entire floorboards, but I want something a little more than filling.

Regarding raising the level up by the 3mm of any new boards I lay, would this cause problems? The grippers are already on the floorboards, and we will have 8mm crumb underlay.

Thanks again

Grenage

dc197 wrote: »

Regarding raising the level up by the 3mm of any new boards I lay, would this cause problems? The grippers are already on the floorboards, and we will have 8mm crumb underlay.

Fitting carpet can be a bit of a nightmare if they aren't at the same level as the underlay.