Floor Thickness Wood Construction

Joists in home construction are usually made with 2 by 10 or 2 by 12 lumber.

Floor thickness wood construction.

A floor s framework is made up mostly of wooden joists that run parallel to one another at regular intervals. The national wood flooring association s brett miller explains why minimum building code for joists and subflooring isn t always sufficient for wood flooring. Keep in mind that for mechanically fastened floors osb doesn t hold fasteners as well as plywood so you need to use a thicker material to get the same holding power. The heaviest rating is for 7 8 inch thick panels for which joists can be spaced 32.

There are two main types of subflooring plywood and oriented strand board or osb. Because solid floors expand more when exposed to moisture than engineered floors you can only install them over a plywood subfloor at or above ground level. The bulk of the floor s thickness comes from the joists which are the horizontal beams that carry the floor s weight. Wood construction data 1.

For joist spans 16 inches or less nwfa recommends minimum panel thickness of 5 8 inch plywood or 23 32 inch osb. Such methods use a 4 foot design module which governs a 16 inch spacing of joists. For retrofitting older construction 23 32 and 3 4 inch thick panels can be used over 24 inch on center joists. It is an ideal building material for subfloors.

Details for conventional wood frame construction. The first approach to achieving a strong durable struc ture involving economical use of materials is to follow a basic modular plan for layout and attachment of framing members. Some newer homes have manufactured i beam shaped joists. 3 4 inch solid this is a 3 4 inch thick solid piece of hardwood floor and what you might typically think of for hardwood floors.

The building code requires 5 8. Subflooring only adds 3 4 inch to the floor thickness. Laminate floors with a thickness of 12 mm to 15 mm feel more like hardwood floors than thinner laminates. Both come in 4 by 8 sheets and feature tongue and groove installation.

Floor joists are typically 2 by 8s 2 by 10s or 2 by 12s. Usually manufactured in 4 by 8 foot sheets plywood panels and osb are acceptable subfloors for hardwood flooring as long as they are the proper thickness. Is 23 32 inch osb or plywood.