Plywood or particle board floor

Hi All

Time to order materials for subfloor

striaght forward question

Plywood vs particle board flooring - which should we go with and why?

Flooring will be carpet in bedrooms, spotted gum most places, tiles in wet areas ex kitchen

Go with termite resistant particle board flooring, you will not be able to remove the floor later if termites come for a visit and that is on the cards

Particle board flooring it will do the job and be cheaper in most cases.

Thanks guys

I am concerned though that we might not get a roof on by xmas and the particle board will be exposes to elements over dec / jan breaks

bearers + joists going in today - should be done by mid next week and floor to go in early week after, once plumber and sparky are finished the first parts of their rough ins

Frame to go in straight after

need bricklayer back + steel install before roof trusses can go in

should take a few days for them to go in and then we are ready for sarking + tiles

that by my calcs is around 17/18 Dec i.e. if we lose a day or two along the way - little chance roof is on pre xmas /new years breaks

would you be concerned about water damage of particle board if it was exposed to elements for 3-4 weeks??

yes it is possible that the floor may be damaged by inclement weather, I would get a roll of thick black poly plastic from Bunnings and cover the floor with it (get quality adhesive tape to join it).
If you seal it well that should be enough to protect it, if you don't mind a bit of paint on it I would seal it (underside too).
all the best
Pete

So roll this over the top then the frame gets installed above the poly?

ie the plastic will be there forever under the frame?

yes thats right, when the internal frames are installed they just get mounted on top of the plastic film, this is standard practice in many timber floored buildings.
The plastic then stays until the house is painted (just before the carpet or tiles go down this protects the floor from building adhesives , paint etc and if you are too broke to put carpet down it gives you a reasonable floor to live on.
When the building is finished it is a simple matter of running a stanly blade around the rooms to remove the protective sheet.
Pete

Treated particle board flooring can withstand limited exposure to the weather. Refer to manufacturers tech data sheets. It is typically 4-6 weeks not months/years.
If the roof will not be ready consider using galv nails with treated flooring as normal nails will rust very quickly.

My own OB proceeded very slowly so I used galv fasteners everywhere

no it will be fine , it has a wax coating on it that will protect it easily for that amount of time

do not do this you will get mould , in 18 years as a carpenter i have never seen this done , black poly and weather around timber equals mould mould mould