# Help with insulating chipboard flooring



## goldeneyedmonkey (15 Sep 2017)

Hello all, 

I am trying to find out the most cost effective way to insulate a chipboard floor. So it's an existing chipboard floor that has been nailed down and there's no way of getting it back up without destroying it. It's the first floor and below is a carport/ garage, which is acting as a bit of a heatsink and bringing the temp of the living room down. I really don't want to rip the ceiling below down as there is so much equipment in the garage and hall below. But this may be my only option...

I was thinking however that there is enough room to build up on top of the existing chipboard to the depth of nearly 60mm, so theoretically I could have up to an inch of insulating material then solid floor of some description. Or failing that, insulation > ply > laminate or similar above. 

My question is, there is a question at the end of this I promise, is there a specific type of insulation that has been developed for this? Does it need to be denser than usual celotex boards etc? 

I might be able to get some decent reclaimed solid flooring from a reclamation yard not far from me. So is a floating floor on top of insulation possible?

Long winded I know :roll: but any feedback or ideas towards this would be great. 

Thanks in advance all you helpful and supremely wise folk _Dan


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## garethharvey (15 Sep 2017)

Chipboard flooring is relatively cheap, have you considered ripping it up to give a greater depth of insulation?

I would have thought anything over 100mm insulation would be good.


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## RobinBHM (15 Sep 2017)

You could use 50 x 25mm tile battens with 25mm insulation in between, then chipboard over the top.

Or if there is room in between the joists you could remove the chipboard floor, insulate then chiphoard.

Thing is, if you overboard, you need a layer of flooring chipboard anyway, so Id be tempted to rip up the existing floor -it wouldnt take very long to get it up.


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## sunnybob (16 Sep 2017)

Most chipboard floors I've walked on squeek and groan like crazy. Heres your chance to rip it out, lay rockwool, and then screw the new floor down with a thousand screws so its silent.
Flame retardant polystyrene ceiling tiles on the car port roof will help as well.


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## Phil Pascoe (16 Sep 2017)

And don't leave it til the day after you've laid a new floor to remember that you wanted to run some wiring under it ... #-o


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## ColeyS1 (16 Sep 2017)

Punch the nails through

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## ColeyS1 (16 Sep 2017)

sunnybob":14ayndih said:


> Most chipboard floors I've walked on squeek and groan like crazy. Heres your chance to rip it out, lay rockwool, and then screw the new floor down with a thousand screws so its silent.
> Flame retardant polystyrene ceiling tiles on the car port roof will help as well.


I agree. What tends to happen is the floorings fixed down nice and tight then the joists begin to dry out, creating a squeaky gap-certainly on new builds anyway. The majority of chippys I know nowadays stick it down as well (just search chipboard glue) which prevents the problem. When I'm fitting stairs and need to ease the flooring for nosings, I can confirm the bloody glue sticks well :lol: 

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## Jacob (16 Sep 2017)

If laying on top is really viable this would be a good idea. Say 2" battens with 2" Celotex in between and any flooring of your choice on top.
It'd save a lot of labour and be very effective - mainly because of the lack of air space and air leakage gaps between it and the floor above, which can sometimes nullify all your efforts at insulating. 
If you do insulate between existing joists it needs to be up tight under the floor boards to close the air gap. Or if there is an air gap it needs to be sealed all round the edges to stop cold air getting in.


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## pollys13 (16 Sep 2017)

Might seem silly but might work. Could you get a very small diameter hole saw to cut around the nails and boards and lift out?Or perhaps hole saw same diameter as some dowel, cut dowel to length and plug holes, or fill in holes with wood filler.


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## Phil Pascoe (16 Sep 2017)

If you are to spend out on a new floor anyway, you could lift the existing floor doing as little as possible damage (many of the nails would pull through), insulate properly, relay the old floor replacing anything badly damaged then lay your new floor over the top, then you have decent insulation, a double thickness perfectly finished floor (more insulation). I've cut them up before with a jigsaw with a blade ground off so it only cut 1/8th" below the sheet cutting along the joists and zigzagging around the nails, doing very little damage.


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## Mark A (16 Sep 2017)

I used a circular saw with a cheap 7 1/4" multi purpose blade to remove the chipboard floors in my house. I set the depth a fraction more than the thickness of the chipboard, used a string line to mark where the nails where in the joists and then sawed along the line right through the nails. The boards were cut into nice manageable pieces while simultaneously obliterating all the nails.

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## goldeneyedmonkey (16 Sep 2017)

I was hoping to get the chipboard up and relay if possible, but with it not being screwed it's proving tricky to do without too much damage. 

I've had a go at taking a board up by drilling out the heads of the nails, didn't pull through as they're ring shank. I haven't tried punching them through as they're quite a large gauge nail. Might give it a whirl tomorrow see how it fares. It's not the end of the world getting new chipboard as the joists need levelling on places anyway and this will obviously provide a better surface to lay flooring on. 

I've got loads of decent offcuts of insulation from site so these will go in as a layer, expanding foam between any gaps. And then loft insulation on top. 

It can be done in stages so less disruption. Just means an extra few hundred spent on it for new chipboard, but it will be a better job for it. 

Thanks for the input anyway people.

Cheers _Dan


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## ColeyS1 (16 Sep 2017)

A nice big punch along with a heavy hammer should do the job, or perhaps an old bolt with a similar size to the nail head. 

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## slate1234 (17 Sep 2017)

and you could be skimming the ceiling under the floor, why not insulate the ceiling nder the floor in question.


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