Remove floating chipboard floor or overboard with ply?

[mark306]

Hi,

I would like to tile my kitchen and put laminate down on my living room (currently lino and carpet).

My floor is on a floating chipboard floor which is a little 'bouncy'. I was planning to remove all the chipboard floor and put down 18mm plywood. However another option is to overboard the chipboard with plywood. Obviously this raises the floor slightly, but would it be as stable as removing the chipboard first?

Any preferences on the 'best' way to do this?

 

[vinn]

1. The kitchen floor:
is it suspended?
are there or have there been any damp issues?
are base units and appliances in-situ?
is the present kit FFL level with the living room FFL?

2. The living room:
is it suspended?
any damp issues?
any floor movement issues?

Is the external ground level approx 150mm below your FFL's?
Are your walls cavity?
Do you have render?

 

[mark306]

is it suspended?
Yes

are there or have there been any damp issues?
Yes - there was a water leak two weeks ago. I'm in the process of having the floor 'fixed'. This will entail replacing chipboard where it has expanded and drying out underneath. When complete I'm expecting the floor to be flat and dry.

are base units and appliances in-situ?
Yes but I plan to re-fit the kitchen so these can be removed.

is the present kit FFL level with the living room FFL?
Yes

2. The living room:
is it suspended?
Yes

any damp issues?
Affected by the same water leak (as described above).

any floor movement issues?
only where the boards have expanded. (I filed a glass to the brim and bounce up and down on other areas and it didn't spill).

Is the external ground level approx 150mm below your FFL's?
It's about 150 not much more below.

Are your walls cavity?
Yes

Do you have render?
No

 

[vinn]

Thanks for your detailed replies.

So you have sheet vinyl over chipboard (dimensions?) in the kitchen.
A more likely cause of bounce than chipboard would be the joists?
Can you open up the floor at a joist bearing outside wall, & see if any rot exists in the joist tails.
The span might be too much for the section sizes of the joist.

There could be an absence of noggins or screw fixings.

 

[mark306]

Yes vinyl over the chipboard in the kitchen. This will be removed by the insurance company whilst dealign with my water leak claim.
The kitchen dimensions are:12'9 x 9'2 feet.

Well the floor is only bouncing where the boards have expanded. It's clear this is the problem as you can see the difference where they join.
The boards which were not affected by water appear to be firm.

I don't really want to open up the floorboards prior to the insurance company doing their repairs.

Prior to the water leak when the washing machine was spinning you could feel the floor vibrating in the living room. I was under the impression chipboard by it's nature is not a good material to lay tiles / laminate.

 

[vinn]

I meant the dimensions of the chipboard sheets.

Until the insurance co has finished their work then its best to hold off making any decisions as to what to do next?
If both rooms were water damaged then presumably remedial work will take place in both rooms?

W/M vibration has nothing to do with a securely fixed chipboard sub-floor.

 

[mark306]

Well I already know the floor will be fixed with new, dry chipboard.
So how does waiting help the decision process ?

I think I'll just use a trial and error approach as the advice on the forum (however well intended) isn't much use.