Dear Rob:
I have a 100 year old farm house that needs a new kitchen floor. The house is rarely occupied so the HVAC does not usually run allowing for moisture and temperature variations. The original tongue and groove pine is still there and in solid form but even when new it was not high quality so refinishing it is not a good option. I will put down cement board over the tongue and groove to provide an even surface. Can I use laminate or hard wood in this applications or am I stuck with linoleum or tile?
-Doug, Georgia
Dear Doug:
You have some options here. I have found very few floors that were not able to be sanded, if they have a thick enough wear layer. If you really don’t like the appearance of your pine floors though, and you’d like to use another type of wood flooring, the proper subfloor for that application would be two layers of 3/8 inch CDX grade plywood, installed perpendicular to each other with glue and screws. I wouldn’t choose cement board unless you plan on installing ceramic tile.
The bigger concern I have is the fact that you do not have HVAC running consistently. Wood can be acclimated for virtually any temperature or humidity condition, but once it is installed wide swings in temperature and humidity can cause gapping, cupping and other problems which could permanently damage your floors. Unless you plan on maintaining the environmental conditions in the home, I’d opt for other flooring options, such as tile or linoleum, which are more resistant to variations in temperature and humidity.
Best of luck with your renovations,
Rob
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