Hi All.
I just bought a very small, one level condo near the water. The unit has a crawlspace.
I notice that a portion of the bathroom floor has cracked ceramic tile, and seems a little soft under my feet.
Upon ripping the carpeting out of the rest of the unit, i found particle board, stained in some areas, and basically very brittle in many areas (it's likely 30 years old).

Basically, I have no idea what to do. I was planning to install (myself) a floating laminate floor, but, now that i've found this brittle flooring under the carpet, i'm not so sure.

Should i remove the partcile board? Will there likely be a layer of plywood under the particle board? Or, should i just nail down another layer of plywood over top of the particle board, and then install the laminate?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but, like i said, i have no idea as to how to proceed.

Thanks very much for any advice!

Caution - Amature advice ahead....

As long as it doesn't screw up your doors, cabinets, etc, and as long as the particle board doesn't have moisture damge, I'd put plywood over it and call it a day. 3/4" preffered, but 1/2" probably OK.

It's a floating laminate! As long as it meets the flatness requirements, lay it.

my only concern with just putting the laminate over top of the particle board, is that i see that the particle board has become a little brittle, especially where i pulled up the tack strip.

i just don't want to end up having a sofa fall through the floor!

any idea if, as a rule, another layer of plywood was usually installed under the particle board subflooring? i'm just surprised that the previous owner's washing machine never fell through!

thanks again for your oppinions and advice.

Well, take it up then.