Should I install a second subfloor?

[soandso]

Hi guys, I'm new here.

So I have a 100 year old house with, I'm guessing quarter sawn pine plank flooring. A lot of the boards have been pretty mangled from electrical work, some of the boards are splintered like they literally ripped them up. There are also a lot of screw holes, cross-cuts, and the cracks are pretty drafty over the front porch, so I've kind of already decided not to try and refinish them.

I removed all the carpeting and pulled out the baseboards (they had carpeted the baseboards!) so what's left is the original planks on top of the joists.

I want to install laminate flooring, should I put a layer of plywood down to even out the floor first, or can I get away with just an underlayment?

Another consideration is I'm trying to keep the total thickness to 1" to meet the height of the beveled marble threshold to the bathroom.

Would 3/8" plywood be enough? Would I screw through to the joists, or float the ply?

Thanks!

 

[smalljobsdenver]

Doesn't look that bad... Your going to use laminate? Have you considered luxury vinyl flooring? Its just easier to work with. Also looks like you have quite a bit of steps and edging to think about.

 

[Incognito]

Rent a machine like this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=san...FQKHa_6DGMQ_AUIBygC#tbm=isch&q=sander+175+rpm

Use 60 or maybe 36 grit sandpaper to sand smooth.

sweep and vacuum clean

install 1/4" 5-ply Baltic Birch plywood underlayment.

That's the MINIMUM you could have for a vinyl floor.

You could do LESS for laminate.

I wouldn't.

 

[soandso]

Thanks for the replies. Yes the edging is hard for me to sort out, I'm guessing some transition moulding on the edge of the floating floor, but if there's another underlayment I'm assuming I would want additional molding to cover that edge as well, and then there is not much room left between where the banister ties in to the floor and the edge of the stair well, the feet might end up straddling the transition between the molding and the planks. It's kind of a headache to think about for me, I don't have a table saw and router to custom make something.

I went to a couple stores and shopped online for different floating floor options and realize I would go for a luxury vinyl plank material, but it's actually outside my budget right now, and the laminate within my budget I really didn't like.

I am avoiding sanding the floors because I'm pretty sure it's lead paint on there, which is another reason I just want to cover it. In the end I decided I'm just going to paint the floors for now as a temporary solution until I can save up some money and do a good quality vinyl plank floor (I got samples from Cali Bamboo that I like a lot).

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[DarisMulkin]

You can get lead paint test kits at HD or Lowe's. Not that expensive and easy to use.

Daris