We are installing engineered hardwood over a pre-existing stapled particle board subfloor. We did not hear the crackling noise when the Pergo was over it. But now that we have removed the Pergo, it crackles when walked on.
Our thought is to put in a but load of screws and move forward with our foam underlayment and nailed tongue and grove engineered hardwood. Do you think this will do the trick?
Peggy

Particle board sub-floors are not recommended as sub-floor for wood floors. Are you sure there is not a plywood sub-floor under the particle board? If you do have a real sub-floor under the "particle board" underlayment, I recommend removing the underlayment before installing a wood floor. Do not use a foam underlayment under a nailed down wood floor. If you have a particle board underlayment and will not remove it because it's a lot of work, it should have fasteners every 6 inches around the perimeter of each sheet and every 8 inches in the field. Not too many fasteners to remove all the particle board before a new floor, which is best in the long run.