Using Luan as Finished Flooring
How to Bend Plywood
Basic Instructions on Using Luan as an Underlayment for Laminate or Vinyl Flooring.
CDX Plywood
1. Luan should be installed directly on top of the subfloor (This is due to the face that, luan itself is not strong enough to to be the concrete subfloor)
2. Leave a quarter inch gap around the edges of the luan, to allow for expansion/shrinkage. This is very important
3. Use pressure cuts to cut through the panel, with one direct cut. This ensures the board is clean around the edges, and there are no gaps in your work
5. Once luan plywood is installed, insure to clean the floor surface before applying the flooring vinyl flooring.
Luan Wood Video Series
Bending Luan Wood Video
Installing Luan Wood Video
Cutting and Installing Vinyl Over Luan
Installing Luan Over Subfloor
Laying laminate over Subfloor
Making Tile Flush With Subfloor
Attaching Luan To Subfloor
Working With Luan For Do It Yourselfers
Luan Wood Video Series
Bending Luan Wood Video
Installing Luan Wood Video
Cutting and Installing Vinyl Over Luan
Installing Luan Over Subfloor
Laying laminate over Subfloor
Making Tile Flush With Subfloor
Attaching Luan To Subfloor
Working With Luan For Do It Yourselfers
Removing Luan Underlayment
Luan can be removed fairly easily. Just cut it into strips as long as there is no vinyl backing left. Getting all the staples removed or beat down is by far the hardest part.
If it's ran underneath the cabinets use a sharp razor knife and score it several times and it should break off pretty clean.
A lot of staples will have slivers of luan caught underneath you should either pull out or use needle nose pliers to remove the sliver then hammer then down flush. When you remove the luan don't want anything sticking up.
It's a good idea to refasten the subfloor onto the joist with screws or screw shank underlayment nails. You should see how flat it is too... may have to belt sand some seams.
Using Luan Plywood as (Sub) Flooring
If you are looking at an inexpesive way to do flooring, you can use Luan Subflooring, as Finished Flooring. The trick here is to cut the plywood sheets into tiles, about 4x4. You can also do it in 2x2' or 2x4'. This way it doesn't look like you just cheapened out and painted the subfloor. Make sure to properly sketch the layout of the room you plan to floor so you can make the proper adjust with regards to full plywood sheets, and those that you will have to specialty cut to create a uniform look around the room.
You don't need to pad between the subloor and the plywood, although I wouldn't recommend against it. (An acoustical foam underlay will help reduce noise). Lay the plywood sheets on top of the foam padding underlayment. Use glue and then use screws at the corners, as you lay the plywood. You can also use glue alone with no screws, however that might result in some curling of the plywood flooring, and of course you don't want that.
For the screws, you can spend a little bit of money, and get something different. You can use flat face screws, with 2 dimples. They are called tamper resistant screws, to be honest, I don't think the wood species matters. Once you have finished installing and screwing the plywood in, using wood putty or filler to fill the holes ad the sand it smooth.
Using plywood (luan/birch) as a top flooring is a unique and cost effective method for home improvement. Of course the cost cannot be beat, and you can throw down a mat or carpeting in high traffic areas, for example outside the kitchen or hallways.
Things to Remember when it comes to Plywood Flooring
There isn't going to be an isle in the home hardware or improvement store dedicated to Plywood Flooring, so you may have to think out of the box.
Materials to Use for Your Plywood (Luan/Birch) Flooring Project And Costing
6 sheets of five-ply 1/2-inch domestic Birch or Luan plywood for the flooring (less than $70 dollars)
3 sheets of three-ply 3/4-inch Baltic birch plywood for the trim (less than $100 dollars)
150 square feet of 1/8-inch acoustical foam underlay (under $30 dollars)
Handful of fasteners and 2 1/2-inch gold screws (under $10 dollars)
Wood putty or Filler (Under $10 dollars)
1 gallon of floor-grade polyurethane (under $50 dollars)
Where to buy Luan Plywood:
Luan Plywood is available at stores such as Lowes and Home Depot, in various sizes from ¼ to 1/8 and it usually found in the woodcraft aisle in store. You may have to ask someone to assist you with finding it, if it is not readily accessible at first glance when you arrive in the store. If you go to Lowes or Home Depot you may also find MDF board available in similar sizes such as ¼ to 1/8 . Luan plywood is relatively cheap to buy and its also a great multipurpose underlayment for floors as well as smaller hardware projects around the home.
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