Subfloor

Once the floor support system is in place, the subfloor is glued and nailed down over it. The subflooor serves as a base for other flooring components like radiant heating panels, underlayment, and finish flooring, as well as framing for the next story. A good subfloor should be stiff, level, and robust enough to survive the rest of the construction process.

In smaller stick-framed residential projects, subfloors are almost always made of wood. Common subfloor materials include plywood, oriented strand board (OSB), and high-end waterproof OSB products such as Advantech. For my project we used plywood because it handles wear and water better than commodity OSB, and it was available locally on short notice. If I’d had more lead time, I might have considered Advantech subfloor, which is nearly waterproof and a little stronger than comparable subfloor products.

Photos taken December 19, 2019. Posted January 6, 2019.