Underlayment required??

[jjcold]

My house is coming along nicely. The drywall was textured today (very light texture) and looks great. I think the drywall crew has done a fantastic job!

For some reason, I'm thinking the contractor isn't going to put any sort of underlayment over the subfloor. Is it common on a lower priced home to just lay the vinyl flooring or carpet over the OSB subfloor? Is that okay? Thanks, as always, for your response.

[Rich]

Typically where vinyl is oing to be there should be a 3/8" underlayment to bring it up within 1/4" for adjacent materials.
Would probably be alright without it for carpet with a good pad under it.

[jjcold]

I'm a happy man, again! Went to the site today, and they had put 3/8 inch particle board underlayment, with felt, on the floors that will receive vinyl. I wonder if they're going to lay that vinyl tomorrow? We're going out of town for a bit, so it will be interesting to see how much they do when we get back. they finished the interior painting today, and it is beautiful. Quality drywall and painting really makes the difference!!

[Rich]

Good to hear jjcold.

[Grump]

I know this is a late reply, but I thought I would post it for anyone else in a similar situation.

Particleboard is a no-no as underlayment for just about any floor covering. I know that building contractors have been using it for eons and most of them will tell you they haven't had any problems, but the fact is, it is not a product even flooring manufacturers would want you to use.

When it gets wet, it swells up like a sponge and pops off all the nails or screws it was put down with. You can bounce on it like a trampoline. It deteriorates, even if it doesn't get wet and will sooner or later crumble like a stale cookie. It doesn't hold a nail well, so you can't even stretch carpet in without having to re-nail the tackless with much longer nails or staples. It's a cheap alternative to a real underlayment panel.

For my customers concerned with price, I recommend a ACX Doug Fir plywood or even SuperPly. It's about twice the cost of particleboard, but how much more is that when you consider the cost of a home these days? For those who want a quality underlayment that will offer better density performance characteristics, I suggest 5 ply Birch panels. They are about 3 times the cost of particleboard, but I have never had to remove one, even after minor flooding that would ruin a pboard floor.

Many warranty claims on sheet vinyl are voided when it is discovered particleboard was used. Insurance companies will honor claims for water damage, but because pboard tends to grow mold faster, many claims of late have been disallowed because of mold issues.

Although you can get a beautiful floor installed on particleboard, a flooring professional committed to your satisfaction will insist on the proper underlayment. We are not only concerned with giving you a beautiful floor, we want you to have one that will last for many years to come.

Grump
PS: for anyone mistaking this for some kind of ad. It's not. I'm not looking for work or sales unless you live where I do -- and I ain't sayin' where I live here.

[Rich]

Very true Grump. I should have mentioned that in the original post as ply instead of underlayment. Is what really annoys me is when ply gets glued and screwed down (which is the right way to do it) but when I have to remove it..haha.

[Grump]

My own house originally had particleboard, glued and nailed. Thank God for employees. ;) The top 2/3rds came up fairly easy, but the rest took a while. I didn't want to have to replace subfloor (5/8" CDX T&G) so it was finesse training with scrapers.

Grump