Have 3/4" particle board subfloor and too costly to replace w/ more suitable subfloor. Do not want to do laminate. What are my best options in hardwood, ie construction type, brands, install methods?

Thanks for the help.

Take it up and install over the cdx. Use strip,not plank. It works fine.

Thanks for the response. Is there any hardwood product I can install over the particle board without taking it up? Thanks again for the help!

Floating floor over particle board. Best options?

You could go to the big orange place and buy one of their budget floors. Some of the higher quality engineered floating floors we handle include Kahrs and Wood flooring International Those two would best suit the type of subfloor you have and are not mechanically fastened to the subfloor.

There's more on floating floors at this link

Thanks, Ken

I want a quality product, just have read/heard different opinions on installing hardwood over particle board. I am considering Kahrs and WFI. Also, most flooring stores in Hot Springs, AR carry Harris Tarkett longstrip but haven't found any that carry Kahrs/WFI. So, am considering Harris Tarkett also. You mentioned floating the floor over the particle board. Is gluing it down an option?

Also, can you recommend installers in Hot Springs, Arkansas or nearby.

Thanks for the help!

Particle board is not acceptable for gluedown or fastened down flooring.

Floating an engineered hardwood is your only option, if you insist on keeping the particle board.

I do inspections in Arkansas, and if you glue down or nail down to partical board and when it fails (not if it fails) give me a call and I will do an inspection and tell you why it failed. If you cannot afford to change out the partical board at this time then wait until you can before installing your wood floor.

Can't be of any help on that one. Tarkett? They used to have a great product line. I'll never understand why they've gone to higher gloss finishes and a thinner wear layer. If not for that we'd be offering it on the site, but if you need it we can obtain it for you.

Ken, I do not know of one in that area. I am sure there are some good ones and since you don't know of one, I would suggest they go to the NWFA site at www.woodfloors.org and see who they can find there. After that they can then ask for references.

As inspectors, we rarely get to see the good ones work. Its the other group we make our living with.

I do believe there are more options besides a floating floor. The gentleman said the particle board was his SUBFLOOR, not underlayment. In this case, it is not advisable to remove subflooring but if you want a floor other than a floating floor (which is a good choice), you could put down either 1/4", 3/8", or 1/2" plywood by stapling, screwing AND gluing.Then you would have a substrate that is acceptable for gluing down an engineered floor (for 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" ply) or nailing down solid ( must use 1/2" CDX for nail down). Many pre fab and mobile homes use particle board for subfloors. Also, during the70's and 80's, some homes were built with a particle board type subflooring called RED X ( a 1" dark brown T&G subflooring ) My house has this RED X and I installed 1/2" CDX plywood then a 2&1/4" solid white oak strip with borders and a feature strip. That was 5 years ago and zero problems and made for one stout floor ( 1" p. board on engineered trusses with 1/2" CDX over that followed by 3/4" solid oak for a total of 2&1/4" of solid wood ) An elephant could walk through my house and the china cabinet wouldn't rattle. Good luck!

Good point Gary. Often we think of the obvious. Thanks for your contributions

Is your home a modular,gahaley? If not,there is 1/2 in cdx under the particle board. Removal is not all that difficult, if you know how to do it.

Particle board sandwiches are time bombs.

No, it's not modular. It appears there is plywood under the particle board. Can you explain what needs to be done to remove? We had one installer tell us that since the particle board runs under our walls, we would be "opening a can of worms" if we removed it.

Thanks for the help!

I have never seen walls built on top of particle board. Sounds like a smoking pile to me. That would mean they nailed particle board down before the house had a roof on it. ???

I just take out all the nails with a hanmer and cat-claw and then just carry the sheets out the door.

I guess houses are built different in other places than they are here in CA. Here, you must have a minimum of 5/8" subflooring over joists 16" oc. If joists are spaced wider, then 3/4' or more. Most nice homes have joists/trusses 16" oc with 3/4" plywood subfloors that are glued and nailed.
You could never use 1/2" plywood as a subfloor, unless your joist spacing was 12" oc. And 3/4" p.board is never used as an underlayment except in remodel work. Typically, the only time p. board underlayment is used is for sheet vinyl and then it is 3/8", not 3/4". In 24 years, I have never seen a home with 1/2" plywood subfloor covered with 3/4" p. board underlayment. Is this common in other parts of our great country? Just wondering!