Sub-floors are often an overlooked part of a home build, especially since the flooring system isn’t visible to homeowners. But builders and contractors should take a closer look at the flooring choice the homeowner has selected in order to build a solid base. While it’s true the industry has been quietly innovating sub-flooring for greater strength and stiffness, it’s important to factor in recent flooring trends when selecting a sub-floor. Floor trends are tipping the scales toward much heavier flooring, requiring sub-flooring to be stiff enough to resist long-term bending and buckling.
Currently, each square foot of sub-flooring must accommodate 10 lb. of dead load and 30–40 lb. of live load while maintaining its structural integrity.
Commodity-grade sub-flooring provides good performance for small- and average-sized homes that use vinyl or laminate flooring. For example, floating vinyl flooring planks weigh approximately 2–2.3 lb./sq. ft. Add people and furniture, and live loads should be well under the 30–40 lb. limit.
However, according to Realtor.com, the biggest trends in flooring are:
And in luxury homes, these top choices are trending:
Whether you’re building or remodeling a new home or building luxury houses these flooring trends are adding significant weight to each square foot of the house, making sub-flooring for heavy tile and hardwood critical.
Typical total installation weights for luxury flooring can quickly exceed the 10 lb. dead load accommodation. For example, natural stone tile can weigh up to 23 lb./sq. ft. When calculating for heavy flooring, luxury furniture and people, live loads can quickly exceed support capacity. no question that stronger and stiffer premium sub-flooring can help spread the load across multiple joists—not only creating a solid feel underneath, but also helping to carry the load.
Choosing sub-flooring for tile and sub-flooring for hardwood
LP Legacy® Premium Sub-Flooring made with Gorilla Glue Technology® is a super durable, premium, strand-based composite wood panel designed for demanding sub-floor applications that require exceptional stiffness. It’s one of the toughest sub-flooring panels in the industry, providing the density and stability needed to support heavy stone and ceramic floors, exotic hardwoods, and other heavy flooring options. It’s the ideal sub-flooring for tile—especially heavy natural and ceramic stone—and the ideal sub-flooring for hardwood.
Want more information on the durability of LP Legacy Premium Sub-Flooring? Check this Q&A about its extreme durability testing.
You may have recently heard the terms “resilient construction” or “weather-resistant building” being used more frequently within the architectural and construction industries. But what do these terms mean exactly? The Resilient Design Institute defines resilient construction (or resiliency) as “the capacity to adapt to changing conditions and to maintain or regain functionality and vitality in the face of stress or disturbance.”
Continue ReadingWhen it comes to the wide variety of contractor loyalty programs that exist on the market, the tangible payoff it can have on your business is not always clear. But, not to worry. Today we break down the details of the LP® BuildSmart™ Preferred Contractor Program.
Radiant barriers have become very popular with efficiency-minded builders in the recent years. This is largely due to the fact that when installed properly, a radiant barrier can reduce the impact of summer heat and yield tangible savings in cooling costs of a home—a persuasive selling point when addressing potential homeowners. But how does radiant barrier work and what exactly are its effects?
LP Building Solutions uses engineered wood to create a portfolio of products that help professionals build smarter, better and faster. The innovations of engineered wood siding are relatively new. For instance, LP® SmartSide® Trim & Siding was introduced in 1997. Thanks to its advanced manufacturing process, it is one of the most durable siding solutions available. Sometimes people are skeptical of things that are really that good. So, let’s crush a few myths with engineered wood facts.