Subfloor
Also called substrate
What the finished floor is installed onto — plywood over joists, a concrete slab, or a radiant assembly — and the thing that determines the installation method.
The substrate is identified before anything else is decided. Method, product construction and moisture protocol all follow from it.
A method proposed before the substrate has been named is a guess, and it is criterion 2.1 of the framework failing.
Related
Terms this one depends on
- Nail-downFastening flooring mechanically to a wood subfloor — correct for solid hardwood over plywood.
- Glue-downBonding flooring directly to the substrate with adhesive — correct for engineered flooring over concrete, and in condominiums.
- FloatingInstalling flooring so it rests on the substrate without being fastened or bonded to it — correct over radiant heat, or where acoustic separation is required.
- Radiant heatAn in-floor heating assembly that imposes a thermal cycle on the flooring above it, in addition to the seasonal humidity cycle.
- Moisture contentThe proportion of water in wood or in a subfloor, measured before installation and used to decide whether the two are compatible.
Referenced by
Terms that point here
Provenance
Where this definition comes from
Framework pillars this term is material to
If you are dealing with this on a real floor: floor restoration, or get a fixed written price after a measure.
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