I am going to be installing 3/4 inch solid prefinished hardwood floors. I will be nailing the hardwoods down. I pulled up the carpet and saw that my subflooring is made up of particle board. It looks like about 3/4 inch particle board. And underneath the particle board is probably another 1/2 of plywood. I have talked to many different people and heard many different methods on what I should do. I know that I shouldn't install the hardwoods directly on the particle board, everyone agrees that is a bad idea. I am trying to determine if I should pull up the particle board and put something in it's place, or if I would be ok to run something on top of the particle board. I would prefer to run something over the particle board, because it will be much less work, but I want to do it right. Is it worth the extra effort to pull the particle board up? Next question, what should I put down? Plywood? OSB? I have heard different things here to. If I pull up the particle board, I was thinking of putting down 3/4 inch ply. If I left the particle board in place, I might just use 1/2 inch ply. This is a multi level house and underneath this flooring is another living space, do I need to put any type of moisture barrier, etc.? Would glue down be an option? Or do I need to nail? I know this is a lot of questions, I have never done hardwoods and want to make sure I do it right. Thanks! Carl

removing the particle board is going to keep your finished floor height the same or close going over is going to make it a concern in some pleaces that may be vertically challenged. some to think about are steel exteriior doors that swing into the room, dishwashers and cabinates can be an issue as well. Just check around to see if the extra height is going to be a problem or not.