When you take a step onto a floor there is a lot that goes into making the floor sturdy, resilient, and safe. There are multiple layers that make up your floors. You have the top layer that is your floor covering (Hardwood, Laminate, Vinyl, Carpet, etc.), next you have the underlayment (usually a thin layer of fiber, foam, rubber), below that you have your subfloor (plywood, OSB, concrete), and lastly you have the joists which are the foundation to your floors. So, what does all of this mean?
The floor covering is pretty simple. It is the top layer that you directly walk on, and see. As an example this would be your Vinyls, Ceramics, Laminates, Hardwoods, etc. This will all depend on your tastes, budget, and design.
The underlayment is what the floor covering lays on. It can dampen sound, and it can protect your flooring from moisture and heat. Note that for carpeting the underlayment is padding for added comfort and it helps if anything is spilled on the carpet to not seep through to the subfloor. The purpose of an underlayment is to provide a smooth, flat surface for the floor covering. It can be made of many different materials. It’s chosen depending on the needs of the floor covering. Now let’s throw a curveball here – laminate is the only floor covering that uses an underlayment. And most other floor covers, besides hardwood and ceramic, have padding glued on the underside of the planks or tiles.
Speaking of the subfloor – The subfloor is next. The subfloor sits on top of the joists. This allows your floors to have a continuous structural surface over the floor joists. There are different materials that can be used for the subflooring. Those are wood planks, plywood, OSB (Oriented Strand Board) and concrete.
Wood planks are rarely used anymore. Why may you ask? Money. It is more labor intensive to use wood planks vs plywood, OSB, etc. Cutting and nailing the subfloor is very labor intensive as well as the waste that results from the angle end cuts. With wood planks they must be run at a 45 degree angle to minimize the effects of cupping of the subfloor planks when tongue and groove finish flooring is used (Which is most flooring coverings). At the angle, the finish flooring rests on the high spots of the subfloor.
Now, Plywood and OSB are most commonly used for subflooring. We will be discussing both of these together. Plywood is made by gluing together multiple thin layers of solid wood at 90-degree angles and pressing them tightly as the glue dries to form a very strong structural sheet. This took over solid wood planking as a subfloor in the 1950’s in homes. OSB or Oriented Strand Board, is made by using large, flat wood chips arranged in dozens and dozens of layers, which are glued together and pressed into sheets. It is usually cheaper than plywood, because it uses leftover wood material. OSB came into use as a subfloor material in the 1970s.
Plywood is more resilient in most ways compared to OSB. Plywood is stronger and more rigid. Plywood doesn’t swell when it gets wet, where OSB can swell on the edges. You can use plywood for all types of floor covering. Whereas OSB should not be used for ceramics and tiles. Plywood has more holding strength when it comes to being nailed down than OSB.
Concrete is normally used for the subfloor in highrises, and in basements. Concrete is very dense, and very hard. It is extremely difficult to nail into. In addition, concrete can also allow moisture to seep through. Usually a moisture resistant underlayment/barrier is required when working with a concrete subfloor. However, even with that barrier it is not recommended to install hardwood floor coverings on a concrete subfloor. Concrete is also very susceptible to changes and shifts within the ground, and outside forces – such as tree roots pushing up against the concrete and eventually cracking it. All in all, installing a floor covering on a concrete subfloor can be very difficult. The subfloor needs to be smooth as possible, there’s a lot of prep work that needs to be done, and as it was mentioned before – it is very difficult to nail into. So there usually needs to be a floating subfloor installed which is made with special tongue-and-groove panels of OSB adhered to a base layer of plastic or rigid foam insulation.
With the exception of concrete, all other of the subfloor materials and other flooring layers rest on the floor joists. The floor joists are the foundation to your floors. Floor joists are structural and support everything above. Joists are made of engineered, laminated wood or dimensional lumber. Except for those that have concrete slabs, all houses have joists.
While there are some instances where you could have less layers to your flooring, that would be the exception to the rule. In almost every instance there is the floor covering, the underlayment, the subfloor, and the floor joists. This is what makes up your floors, and gives them structural integrity to keep you and yours on solid ground.
When it comes to your floors, there is a lot more than meets the eye. In the same way, when it comes time to remove your flooring, you have to ensure that each layer is properly taken care of to ensure a smooth installation of your new floors.
Each of the layers in your flooring matters and has a significant purpose to the stability and function of your floor. If one layer is installed or removed incorrectly, it throws off the entire structure of your floor as well as the overall look. This can lead to more money spent to correct the oversight.
When you look at your floors, you may only think of the one layer that you see. Like the ground you stand on, there are several layers underneath the top one that ensures the stability and function of your floor.
At the very bottom of the layers that make up your floors is what we call joists. Think of these as the bones of your flooring. They are used to frame the layer that will sit upon your home’s foundation. It’s crucial that joists are installed correctly because if not, it will result in a great deal of noise, squeaking, and shifting when you walk on your floors.
After the joists, you’ll find the subfloor. This is the solid base that your floor will stand on and will support the floor covering. The subfloor is most often constructed with concrete. It’s crucial that the subfloor has room to breathe, as in expanding and contracting over the years to make your floor function properly.
On top of the subfloor is the underlayment. The underlayment is installed for noise control because it softens any noise that will result from someone walking on the floor. Not only is it installed for noise cancellation, but underlayment gives the floor covering a smooth surface to sit on. Most often made of foam or cork, underlayment is required for “floating” floors such as laminate or engineered wood. These floors are not attached to the subfloor so they “float” on top.
Padding will be used in cases of carpet installation and can make or break the functionality of your carpeted areas. When you are choosing to install tile flooring, you’ll need a moisture resistant underlayment because water can find its way under tile in the cracks of the grout.
The last part of your flooring is the top layer called the floor covering. Floor coverings come in a variety of materials and styles. They can be hardwood, tile, stone, carpet, vinyl, or laminate. This is what you think of when you think of floors.
Floor coverings are often secured to subfloor or underlayment depending on the material. With tile, thinset is used to adhere the tiles to the subfloor. Thinset will need to be expertly removed when looking to install new flooring where the tile was once installed.
When you are removing old flooring to make way for new flooring, it’s essential that every part of the removal process is done expertly and thoroughly. The joists and subfloor will remain, but the layers on top of those will need to be removed to give your new flooring its best chance.
This goes beyond just removing the floor covering. The floor covering and underlayment will need to be removed, but also any adhesive present. If thinset or adhesive isn’t properly removed, it will create an uneven surface for your new flooring to sit on. Save yourself from stress and spending more than you have to by hiring qualified and professional floor removal experts to handle your floor removal project.
When it comes time to replace your floors, take the stress out of floor removal with Speedy Floor Removal. We do more than just remove the floor covering. We go deeper and thoroughly remove layers down to the subfloor so that your new floor installation goes smoothly. We happily serve parts of North and Central Florida with fast, easy, and expert floor removal services.