Hi, I've done much searching on this topic and have learned a ton but before I start nailing in 2 days I was hoping I could get confirmation that I'm doing the right thing.

I'm installing 3/4" solid brazilian cherry (3 1/4" wide) on the first floor of my house (over a finished basement). I have a couple questions .

1. The subfloor is tongue & groove 23/32" OSB. (per the stamp on the material itself). This is almost the recommended 3/4" - is it good enough? Some of my neighbors have hardwood floors from the builder and I'm sure the same subfloor is used in their houses.
2. Because the subfloor is OSB I was going to try to staple the floor. However, I tried a few test pieces today and had much trouble with the tongues splitting, regardless of the pressure I was running (Harbor Freight flooring nailer/stapler). Based on my reading here I'm guess this is due to the hardness of the wood. So I think I would be better off using cleat nails.

Does this seem like a reasonable plan? I hate to have to lay additional subfloor on my whole first floor but I also don't want the floor to fail or squeak badly.
Thanks for your help!

James

You should be good to go with the OSB, provided you install perpendicular to the joist direction.
Cleats will have less tendency to split the tongue, but make sure you use the appropriate air pressure to properly seat the fastener.