Can you put new flooring over old pine boards without a subfloor?
Old pine boards can sometimes serve as a base, but when sections are damaged with splinters, holes, and discoloration, homeowners face a tough choice between laying hardwood or LVP directly over the pine or ripping it out to install a proper subfloor. Lacking experience makes it difficult to judge whether extra plywood is needed first.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1sanding down minor buckles to level before installing new flooringDid this help you?
- 2running a circular saw down between boards, screwing them down, and filling the holesDid this help you?
- 3Leaving the sheet vinyl in place as long as it is glued down well, ensuring the floor is flat, and patching any rips.Did this help you?
- 4Using latex primer and roll-on adhesive to supplement peel and stick tiles on OSBDid this help you?
- 5Flattening seams with a belt sander to improve adhesionDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“It seems like some kind of sealed tiles? Is there anything special I need to do before installing the LVP?”source ↗
“I've moved into a new house and the floorboards are large ply sheets, I'm planning on laying LVT click flooring on top but do I need to put more ply down first?”source ↗
“Here's the situation. I'm helping my son make my wife's grandmothers very old and poorly built house liveable for him, his wife, and my granddaughter.”source ↗
“He works in the auto center at walmart so income is obviously limited. I've helped him a lot but it's starting to drain on our finances too.”source ↗
“Currently the bathroom floor is OSB only which we put down as we had to gut the entire room...”source ↗
“Or are we just wasting our time?”source ↗
“first-time homeowners, so we have basically no barometer for what's normal and no BS meter. Hoping for a second opinion.”source ↗
“Roughly 25% of it is in rough shape: splinters, discoloration, and holes from old screws and drilling.”source ↗
“We're trying to decide between (a) using the existing pine as a subfloor and installing hardwood or LVP over it, or (b) ripping it all out and putting down a proper subfloor first.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Cheapest way to build a floor on bare earth in a garage or shed
- 3How to replace thin wood flooring in old, uneven houses
- 39How to tile over an uneven subfloor without tearing it up
- 6Can you install LVP flooring room by room?
- 3Should I use asphalt kraft paper under wood floors?
- 4Can you install flush baseboards without replacing your floors?