Hi,

I have gone through the pain of removing the ceramic tile from my floors. About 600 sq ft. of it which was a nightmare and the hardest labor I have ever done in my life.

The subfloor is 5/8th inch OSB with nothing else.
The joists in the basement run from left to right.
The subfoor has a lot of dark grey dust on it that is almost ground in.

When I walk on the subfloor, there is hallow sound with every footstep. The remaining tile in the kitchen does not do this.

I'm worried when I walk on the new floor there will be thump sounds all over the house. I heard that most underlayment doesn't work well.

Anyhow, I want to installed 3/4" hardwood flooring.

I wanted to know if I can glue the flooring on the OSB after it's clean. I would hate to lose head clearence and add more subfloor. Does anyone have any recommendations on the route I should take?

If your hardwood flooring requires being glued down, I strongly recommended an additional layer of 3/8" (minimum) plywood underlayment over your existing OSB subfloor. Even for nailing, the 5/8" OSB does not meet the minimum standards to nail or glue to. Add more plywood.

My hardwood doesn't require glueing.. anything is an option at this point.

What would you recommend if you were in my situation with 5/8" OSB?

I'd overlay it with 3/8 plywood.

The 5/8 OSB doesn't meet the minimum. I would add 3/8 also.

I heard that staples/nails don't stick in OSB.. is that true?

What would you recommend to deaden the 'thumps' while walking?