I want to put T&G redwood in my son's room, 15 x12 feet.

The floor is 1/2 inch particle board OVER 1 inch wood planks, which are laid diagonally over the floor joists.

Can I keep the particle board or should I rip it up and put down plywood?

I know particle board is usually a no-no, but these nails are so long they will probably go thru the other side of the board underneath...

Pulling up the particle board is a pain in the kester...

jim jones
jacksonville, fla

Particle board is not all that hard to remove . You just have to be smart about it. I use my Lixie mallet and a cat claw to remove each and every nail. It is pretty leisurely work. After that is done, you can simply pick the stuff up and carry it out the door. You can use a steel hammer and a cat claw, but it is more work.(and loud) A mallet really saves your hands and ears.

You do not need to install plywood. You can go over the subfloor after making sure it is flat.

Easiest money I make is removing PB. I have never tried a mallet tho, I have been using a hammer and an 18" catpaw to get the nail heads up. When I run into screw shanked nails I use a 36" gorilla bar to lever them out.

So should we pull it or put the T&G over it?

The reason it's such a pain to pull is that my son is sleeping in the room.

I have a hard time getting my thin crowbar under the nail head. We take a circular hole cutter and drill each nail head, keeping the area clean and swept until we pull all the boards at once.

This is time consuming but allows the area to be used until the day the floor is ripped up...

If I was a professional, i'd bring a crew in and do it all at once.

Doing this kind of work whilst you're living in it takes time and patience...

The T&G will go down in a day or so and my son can still sleep in the room, until we stain and poly the floor..

But back to the orginal problem, if there is any question about particle board I want to pull it and put down 1/2 inch plywood over the flooring boards..

thanks...

jim jones
jacksonville

ps how many coats of poly do you use in a well traveled area like the top of the stairs, I plan on 3...