Floor Thickness Wood Construction

There are two main types of subflooring plywood and oriented strand board or osb.

Floor thickness wood construction.

Construction adhesive is used between the joists and the subfloor but it does not measurably add to the thickness of the floor. The bulk of the floor s thickness comes from the joists which are the horizontal beams that carry the floor s weight. Some newer homes have manufactured i beam shaped joists. For joist spans 16 inches or less nwfa recommends minimum panel thickness of 5 8 inch plywood or 23 32 inch osb.

Wood construction data 1. The first approach to achieving a strong durable struc ture involving economical use of materials is to follow a basic modular plan for layout and attachment of framing members. Usually manufactured in 4 by 8 foot sheets plywood panels and osb are acceptable subfloors for hardwood flooring as long as they are the proper thickness. Joists in home construction are usually made with 2 by 10 or 2 by 12 lumber.

The national wood flooring association s brett miller explains why minimum building code for joists and subflooring isn t always sufficient for wood flooring. Details for conventional wood frame construction. 3 4 inch solid this is a 3 4 inch thick solid piece of hardwood floor and what you might typically think of for hardwood floors. Floor joists are typically 2 by 8s 2 by 10s or 2 by 12s.

Depending on if what the floor finish will be tile hardwood or carpet there are different recommendations for the actual thickness of the plywood you ll need. Subflooring only adds 3 4 inch to the floor thickness. Because solid floors expand more when exposed to moisture than engineered floors you can only install them over a plywood subfloor at or above ground level. Such methods use a 4 foot design module which governs a 16 inch spacing of joists.

Is 23 32 inch osb or plywood. Ceiling joists are usually 2 by 6s or sometimes 2 by 4s if it is an older home. Laminate floors with a thickness of 12 mm to 15 mm feel more like hardwood floors than thinner laminates. A floor s framework is made up mostly of wooden joists that run parallel to one another at regular intervals.

It is an ideal building material for subfloors. For retrofitting older construction 23 32 and 3 4 inch thick panels can be used over 24 inch on center joists. The building code requires 5 8.