Panel thickness against 19 mm
Below it, an overlay is required before nail-down hardwood.
In York the subfloor is the whole conversation
Everything here sits on wood joists with a panel or plank subfloor, which opens up options a downtown condo does not have: solid hardwood can actually be nailed down, and there is no declaration setting an acoustic minimum. What replaces those constraints is the subfloor itself. We want a 19 mm panel under nail-down hardwood over joists at 16 inch centres, and a good deal of the older stock in this part of the city was built with less, or with plank rather than sheet. Where the reading comes up short, a plywood overlay at $2 to $3 per square foot goes down first. It is also the moment to fix squeaks, because a loose panel refastened now is silent for another thirty years.
Floors we install in York
Solid hardwood installation
Nailed down over a 19 mm subfloor, or an overlay first.
Subfloor overlays and repairs
Plywood added and squeaks refastened before anything finished goes on.
Whole-house floor replacement
Multiple rooms and a staircase kept consistent through one continuous scope.
What we look for in a York property
Whether the floor squeaks now
It is far cheaper to refasten the subfloor while it is exposed than to chase a squeak through a finished floor.
Joist spacing and span
Wider spacing or a long span means more deflection, which matters most under tile.
Whether the floors connect
Running one floor through a whole level looks better and avoids transitions, but it needs the levels to actually match.
Doing a whole York house at once
Running one floor through a whole level looks better than a room-by-room patchwork and it usually costs less per square foot, because setup, delivery and disposal are shared across the job. The catch is that you need somewhere else to be while it happens. Splitting it into two phases doubles the mobilisation and creates a join that has to be planned. The quote shows both so the difference is a decision rather than an assumption.
What our clients say
Reviews collected directly from clients.
5/5
Ontario Flooring installed new hardwood flooring throughout our home, and the results look beautiful. The crew was careful, professional, and kept the work area clean from start to finish.
5/5
Ontario Flooring replaced old carpet in our bedrooms with new flooring. They worked efficiently, helped us understand the options, and completed the installation on schedule.
Questions about flooring in York
Can I have solid hardwood here?
Yes, and this is where it belongs. You have joists and a wood subfloor, which is exactly what nail-down hardwood is designed for. The only question is whether the existing subfloor is thick enough or needs an overlay first.
My floors squeak. Will a new floor fix that?
Only if the squeak is dealt with during preparation, and this is the right moment. A squeak comes from subfloor panels moving against joists, so laying a new floor over it without refastening simply hides it for a few months.
Should I do the whole house at once?
It costs less per square foot in one go, because mobilisation and setup are shared, and the floors match across rooms. Against that, you have to live somewhere else or move around the house in stages. Both are workable and the quote shows the difference.