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Chipboard flooring or not?

2 years ago

New place, need to get rid of yukky carpet. Remember seeing varnished chipboard flooring somewhere once. Any good? Not for a wet area.

Comments (5)

oklouise
2 years ago
seen it done well and it looks like sheet cork, great for extra insulation and to cover old damaged floors.. even seen a floor covered in tile sized pieces of masonite glued down and looked like a fabulous parquetry floor. .the main problem with the chipboard was that the installer laid it as though it was to be hidden by new floor covering and didn't take the time to cut similar sized pieces to create an attractive pattern, joins were a bit rough and screws were visible so better preparation will improve the appearance and look forward to seeing the results
User
2 years ago
It looks best varnished , and if you are wanting to use what is there , I can see a few problems . Firstly , the carpet and underlay has probably been laid with those strip nails , and in some cases glue ( especially if its that silver insulated underlay ) , so it may not come up cleanly . So you run a sander or rotary planer over it , can't get close to the edges , damage things as you strike nails and screws . The skirtings are too high , so do you try and take them off and re-use , or use new ones ? Try and match wall paint , or skirting colours , have to add bits to the door surrounds and things .

Good in theory , but as oklou says , and other potential problems , it may be as cheap to just re-carpet -- at least you know what you've got . Having said that , I guess once you've pulled up the carpet you'll have a better idea but that makes planning really hard .

I realise you want to try something different , but I'd say on a practical level , either re-carpetting or doing fake timber slats over the chipboard are the safest bets .
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oklouise
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
i have to say that i was assuming a layer of new chipboard over the structural floors not attempting to refinish old chipboard
User
2 years ago
Money shouldn't be the deciding factor , but I wonder what the price difference would be between chipboard ( covering and varnishing the existing chipboard ) ; varnished ply ; fake timber panels ( yes , I know there's a price variation on them ) ; carpet or tiling . They all have advantages and disadvantages , but it might make an interesting comparison .
bigreader
2 years ago
I’d be more than happy to pull up old carpets and live with the chipboard underfloor for the short term. Way better than musty dusty old carpet. Make sure there’s no protrusions for safety. Add a couple of rugs and you’ll be good to go.

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