Try DIY Plywood Flooring for High Gloss, Low Cost

jdforney Beautiful! My husband installed plywood floors in our former loft. They looked amazing. It was very difficult for him to screw the subfloor into the concrete floor (he rented one of those pneumatic drills & it was still really hard). And our piano dinged the top layer of veneer. But we lived in a rather raw loft, so we weren't bothered by the imperfections.

kennedytarheel This couple deserves a prize! Way to go!

bufflogal This is a gorgeous floor! And kudos to the Baths for all their "sweat equity"! Just wondering what is the reason for leaving the seams open? If something spills on the floor, it would seep into the foam below. I would think dust, etc. could just build up in there. Can't wait to rip up my bedroom carpet!

aeykelbo Looks amazing

cyqi I did some research before on this subject while trying to cut the budget of my remodelling. While the results were not encouraging, so we drop the idea at the end. I can not remember the details, but here is the verdict. Plywood has many many grade and species available. For typical grade suitable for interior cladding (very thin veneer, say birch), it will cost around £20+ per sheet ( sorry, I'm in uk). If you are looking at veneer thickness suitable for reasonable foot traffic comparable to engineered floor, it could cost up to £70 per sheet. This is just marginally cheaper than engineered or solid wood flooring, but can not match the performance the other options can offer. I was really surprised on how expensive plywood can be. I doubt the suitability if normal cheap construction plywood used as flooring, regarding it's look in details, maintenance, durability and etc. those grade suitable ate way too expensive in my opinion comparing to conventional flooring.

frenchdecor It looks good, but "much more affordable price"? We bought pre-stained ash hardwood floor at discount price 500sqf for $1680 + 2 days rent of the pneumatic nail gun and a few dollars for nails and wax paper (easy to slide hardwood on the sub floor, our's real wood sub floor), total close to $1800. We talked with contractors, then watched few youtube hardwood installation videos and decided to DIY. My project is cheaper. Over 3 years now, no problem at all with our hardwood. Canada.

nFORMAL design They have been using plywood/sheet materials for flooring, wall coverings and other uses in Europe, Australia, NZ, etc., for years.

The issues with plywood flooring in the US is the client expectation. DIY is a perfect use for plywood because the expectations are lower. If a flooring contractor put in a plywood floor for a client and explained the pros and cons, I guarantee that the client would still be upset with a small gouge in the floor. Once you gouge plywood, that's it. You either have to fill the gouge with wood colored epoxy or just look at it. Since plywood is in layers, you'll seem them after the gouge. That is why engineered hardwood floors have a thicker layer on top now. Even if it does get nicked and gouged, it doesn't show the substrate.

Take that one small "con" away, and I'm all for plywood floors. In fact, I'm about to try to talk a client into using them.

Tile-Stones Wow, they did a great job! Who would have thought that plywood could look so elegant. So creative with materials within their budget to reach their desired aesthetic.

Wood plank porcelain tile is also a great alternative for those who want hardwood floors but can't afford the high prices. It looks like hardwood flooring but has the low cost and easy maintenance of porcelain tile!

Maus Haus foxy and original.

amyalexander60 I pulled the nasty old shag carpet out of the bedroom in my old 1860's farmhouse. While I was trying to decide what to put down, the boiler died. That blew my new flooring budget so I used wood filler to fill in the cracks, splits, checks and knot holes in the underlayment plywood, then painted 3 coats of dark red gloss floor paint (acquired off freecycle.org) and I LOVE IT!!! Super easy to clean, not a scratch on it even though I rearrange my bedroom for every summer and winter (dragging furniture around) - that was three years ago.

ginadaisy What a great idea! My subfloor is concrete slab with potential for moisture migration. Would it be appropriate to use Shluyter Ditra as an effective underlayment for a plywood floor? If the plywood is drilled into the concrete, how wide should the joints be to account for different rates of expansion/contraction? Could those joints be filled with a flexible sealant, like silicone, to prevent dirt getting in? My mind is exploding with possibilities!!

Otter Banks I just put down $.079 cent cherry wood resilient flooring in my bedroom and although it's just vinyl, it looks great. My bedroom and closet are about 250 sq ft total and even with quarter rounds on the moldings ( walls are not flat) I think it looks like real wood. I am not sure if vinyl is acceptable for resale value so this is only going in the bedrooms. Livingroom and hallway will be laminate. I did think about plywood, but living in Fl with termites it might not be the best idea for us.

collins design This looks cool, and I actually love plywood as wall covering... but I agree with the comment above that this is NOT a super-budget option. I have done both oak hardwood and engineered wood DIY installations for less per square foot (usually around $3.50-$3.75.)

Building Blocks The couple forged ahead anyway. Their creative application resulted in a seamless wood veneer bedroom floor. hahaha look at the picture-- ummm, what are those lines all over the floor? are those,,,, seems???

doleboy To the people complaining about budget and saying they could have put down engineered hardwood - you're missing the point. They didn't want the standard hardwood flooring look. They wanted a seamless high gloss floor, and they accomplished it, in a DIY fashion, for an affordable price. Good for them!
PS love the recessed trim.

vlance Like AmyAlexander60, I also ripped up nasty carpet with no budget for replacement flooring. I painted the underlayer plywood with a good quality primer and porch floor paint. I was told the nails would rust through the paint, but I doubled primed over the nails and this was never a problem. I did nothing about the myriad of little dents left by the carpet pad staples. I was overjoyed to be rid of the carpet and the floor looked good for a while. Over time, however, the plywood started fracturing, gouging out underneath my husband's TV chair and under my office (rolling) chair and all the little staple dents became more noticeable as they "aged". Also, although the paint surface held up well, the number of stains in the paint have accumulated to the point of needing a fresh coat or two. I was greatly motivated to do the work the first time, but the energy to repaint has not been there. My advice would be, if you are OK with the "primitive" look, you should factor into your calculations the effort/cost of repainting every couple of years to keep them looking fresh.

Fiona Taylor I love it. Great look on a budget!

valdesign My son and his wife built their own house "no contractors for them as the were on a tight budget" doing everything themselves. They also installed a plywood floor which he cut into about 6 inch strips and installed it like a plank floor. Quite a bit more work but turned out beautiful! He did his whole 2 storey house with it including kitchen. He has 2 very active children including a very rambunctious little boy, and the floor is really standing up well. A little patinaed but that just adds to the character. Super easy to care for.

Wade Design & Construction Inc In 2003, I installed a plywood floor in a Usonian house in Wisconsin (designed by a FL Wright protege), using a maple-veneer MDF panel normally used in cabinet construction. The material was 3/4" thick, comes in 49"x97" sheets, and is very flat. It was installed floating on a 1/8" closed cell foam sheet similar to what is installed under other floating floors. I had the material supplied by my cabinet maker, 48" square, with a groove milled into the edge compatible with the spline used in hardwood flooring. The material was cut absolutely square in a shop on a panel saw. This is a critical element of the project success. We wanted tight joints on all 4 sides of each panel. The panels were laid out over the entire 1st floor (1300sf) of the house in a checkerboard pattern, which was complicated by the fact that the house was designed on a polar grid with an outer wall radius of 52'. Lots of cutting. The panels were glued with spline edge to edge, and the result was excellent. I have seen this floor from time to time since it was installed in 2003, and it still looks amazing. The cost including material, labor, finishing and trim was about $13/sf, due to the high quality material and dealing with the polar layout of the house. The owner was very happy with the result, as any commercially available flooring product would have been out of place in comparison to the design of the house.

Andy McCabe I've seen the same done with OSB. Unique and affordable.

John Kumpunen As the article says, plywood is not for everyone. At the end of the day ... it still looks weird if done with 4x8 sheets, with all sorts of discolorations and plywood imperfections, and screwed in with putty-topped holes ... maybe for a dog house? There gotta be tens of alternatives that look better, wear better, and don't look like subflooring.

ericwinesett Where was this story four months ago when I was trying to plan a plywood flooring project?

I just completed an attic remodel in our 1920s bungalow. We replaced 20+ year old white carpeting with plywood flooring for a contemporary home office/multi-use area. I looked at photos on Houzz and elsewhere, read as much as I could find (which wasn't much) and ended up with something very similar to the floor described here. I used "thick face" half-inch birch ply from a big box store for most of the floor, but chose a nicer Baltic birch ply for the pieces with exposed edges along the stairway. Instead of full sheets, I cut the ply into 4-foot squares. For fasteners I chose square-drive, stainless steel trim screws, which were left exposed under the urethane finish. The last step (no pun intended) will be to replace the softwood-planked stairs with 1-inch plywood (two half-inch pieces laminated together).

I will reiterate the point made by doleboy above: The look of a plywood floor is very contemporary; it is not a good choice for someone who really wants the look of a traditional hardwood floor. However, in our case, we probably saved a good bit over hardwood because our project would have required lots of specialized edging and nosing pieces for the stairs and balcony. Another consideration is the levelness of the subfloor. Our 85-year-old subfloor was softwood planking that had become cupped and uneven. We would have had to do extensive work to put down any kind of plank flooring to avoid a rippled effect, but for the plywood I was able to just plane down the highest points. The 4-foot width spans most of the gaps. (If this was my living room, I would have done the extra work to even the floor.)

renafeldman I love the material! Plywood isn't always a cheaper option, however. We used 13-ply maple wood for bathroom cabinetry - it turned out to be absolutely beautiful and has so much character in all edges showing the multiple plies. The cost was more than what expected, but totally worth it. Never thought it could be used for flooring - looks beautiful, and I really like the high gloss!




Rena Feldman
INVIEW interior design

55mwillson for a really cool variation, try adding terrazzo strips (colored or brushed stainless) between each plywood "tile". A friend used that method over 15 years ago and it still looks good (a few dings, but that's part of the look).

Kym Eckard We also ripped up gross carpet & needed a lower cost, less toxic recovering solution. I found formaldehyde-free plywood (only one made in US) with a nice veneer. We ripped it into planks and nailed them to the subfloor with a double layer of tar paper underneath. I wanted to create stripes so after much puttying and sanding, I rolled the whole floor with no VOC white paint. I then taped off and painted the stripes, following the plank borders. I didn't want to use polyurethane after keeping it clean so far and read nightmares about removing Mop n Glo if you wanted to refinish/repaint. I found Bona floor polish and for the low price was worth a shot. Worked perfectly! Years and lots of serious floor cleaning later it looks fantastic. We live at the beach and sand is a constant...still haven't had to refinish. Probably would look more abused in high traffic areas but so much more interesting! Great soft step too, like some hardwoods...my two cents!

ukarmymom Can you tell me if you made the bench at the bottom of the bed or where you purchased it and if it is still available please? Thank you.
ukarmymom@yahoo.com

maddecorator At least twice here it refers to the floor as "seamless," which it clearly is not.

Jasons Carpentry Def go with 13 ply cabinet grade plywood in birch or maple. I get mine @ Home Depot for $30 a sheet, very reasonable.

8211 I took it one step further. Using a circular saw set at one eighth inch, I created wide boards in my plywood. Then using two colors of paint, then glaze and a graining tool to make it look like really nice wood. Three coats of polyurethane. This floor is in an office/ guest room and has remained looking nice for four years.

creyn We used maple plywood flooring in our guesthouse. We found the best finish over the years was the product used for gym floors. It turns a beautiful golden color as it mellows.

houk I installed at home a plywood floor too, but instead of drilling to the ground, used a biscuit joiner, so the plywood is really floating.
I used also a polyuretane based varnish, but I recently found better water based varnishes, and healthyer for the environment that i will use next time i install one of these floors. They are more expensive though, like double the price.

ginadaisy What plywood did you use, how thick, and how many biscuits did you use per board? What dimensions were your boards? How did you seal the seams, if you sealed them? Biscuits are a great idea and easier than drilling into a concrete subfloor!

Greg Bowling Does not seem cost effective to me. $4.35/SF is not cheap and the quality issue of a thin veneer makes it an even poorer choice. You can buy engineered hardwood for the same or less most any day and I do not think its anymore difficult to put it down. Why not use something that was made for the job?

giggles60 The light color and high gloss is very nice, but I don't think I would like the seams where the plywood butts up to each other. The pic from Wade Design & Construction Inc. Laid it in a way that has a more pleasing look to it.

Melissa Treadgold Architect In a renovation to an old house specified plywood ceiling linings in the living room and plywood wall lining in the hall.

houk I used 15 mm thick birch plywood, installed 2.44 m by 1.42 m boards. It was not so easy to manipulate as they were quite heavy, but 2 people can work it no problem. In the kitchen (picture) the board were 2.44 by 0.4 m. It was easier to manipulate, but the result was not so nice. In the long side 2.44 I have put about 4 or 5 biscuits (including in the corners) The shorter side 1.42 had 3 biscuits: one on each corner and one in the middle. To make the biscuit grooves, you have to first put the boards on the floor and trace with a pencil where you want to make the groove because they have to fit exactly. Use some glue while placing the biscuits. Polyurethane verneer makes the floor look more yellow and more plastic like. A good water based verneer that i should have used (about 70€ 5 litters) should preserve the natural colour of the birch and you can also find it in a matte finish (wich i like better).

About the ingeneered hardwood, i think it is more expensive but easyer to install (and no verneer required)

ginadaisy Still curious what would be a good solution for the seams.

pozzum Ten years ago I was finishing a rebuilt (partially!) barn for my studio. I couldn't decide what kind of flooring would stand up to rough use but still be attractive and comfortable to stand on. While I was dithering my carpenter/contractor evened the flooring and put down plywood subflooring. I looked at it and said, well, dang! I put multiple coats of polyurethane on it, sanding in between. Ten years later it still looks great, altho somewhat decorated with paint!

houk i didn't do anything to the joints because i don't care so much that they are there. But you could find some products to seal them here: http://www.bona.com/en-US/United-States1/BonaSystem/Coatings/ I never used these products but they look very good, and expensive too.

ronaedmo I was so excited when I saw the article about your project with the plywood floor. I have been remodeling a 1984 built home in Des Moines, Iowa for over four years and doing modern/contemporary style. I wanted to have a more seamless floor than plank hardwood which only the large 4 X 8' plywood sheets would make possible. I researched for months, talking to everyone that would be an expert in wood and furniture grade sheets would accomplish just what I wanted. Although the veneer on the plywood is thin it is not that much different than engineered, I am not an expert but mm thickness can't matter too much when considering what could or couldn't work for our dining room/formal room spaces. Cost ended up with B Grade sheets about $ 50.00/sheet, used six. We elected to glue down/screw edges. With much color matching we decided to take our charcoal trim paint and diluted it by 30% to get a great color than perfectly blended with the darker trim. With two hand stained coats applied with white staining rags it moved along extremely fast. Then we finished with I believe six coats of polyurethane. It is beautiful. Has held up nicely and if ever scratches the light grade sand paper for wood finishing is enough to make it look good again. So happy and thank you for others willing to go "outside of the box" to create unique looks. So tired of the same materials. Wood companies need to just create their engineered floors with bigger sheets!!!

ginadaisy Thank you, houk! In about two months I'll post pics! Yay!

Francesca I love the look of this, to a certain extent. I think it looks modern and very pretty. I would love to see the boards ripped down to 'normal' size flooring and stained to see if there could be something different. Leave it to me to think of something different.

I'm not one to do something so modern in my home but I think this is a neat idea.

rickcyth We used 1/2"GIS plywood in our kitchen close to ten years ago.
Other than a couple coats of water based varathane every few years it has held up very well. We did not leave any space between the sheets either. We used deck screws to fasten the sheets through the existing subfloor and into the joists.
When it was time to do the bathroom we also used plywood but a different fastening method. We applied construction adhesive like PL2000 onto the subfloor then placed the sheets on top.
We again used deck screws to hold down the sheets to the joists, until the adhesive was set, about 2 days. But we used scrap plywood pieces between the screw head and plywood floor to prevent the screw heads from countersinking the top layer. After we removed the screws and applied the finish no fastening holes or fasteners were visible.
Floor is still good looking and squeak free after 7 years.

debraderm Wondering about durability??

Lisa A "They wanted the joists to stay exposed"?? The joists are the horizontal members under the floor to which they just attached the plywood -- how do they stay exposed? You must be referring to something else.

mikyquinterov Mueble color

lyrics1967 @Otter Banks...Did you use glue or was it self adhesive? What did you have to do to prep the floor?

Joseph D. Christman If you are going to use a sheetgood for flooring material, I recommend a "Baltic Birch" or Appleply or "Europly" material. (And don't use the Chinese-made versions, which are less dense and have heavy off-gassing.) The entire panel is made of hardwood layers ~1/16" thick.
The five-ply material these folks used has a 1/64" veneer layer both sides, with softwood layers in between, so it is much more vulnerable to dents and scratches, and a less stable material.
I wince when designers use poor material choices and cloak it in a garb of "inventiveness."

sapelohigh how is this considered seamless??

Nicole Orner @ Lisa A "They wanted the joints to stay exposed," not joists.

I agree this isn't "seamless" but far fewer seams than plank flooring.

As for the thickness of the veneer, take a look at the veneer on a piece of engineered hardwood, there won't be much difference.

Showcase Gardens ukarmymom, That's a Nelson bench (designed by George Nelson) at the end of the bed. If you do a quick google of Nelson bench, you should find a shop near you selling versions of it.

I've been coveting one for years. When I googled just now, I discovered there's pretty affordable copies out there. I might have to buy one for myself!

setilt Great for an art studio. I might paint the floor; it will get paint on it anway!

Just Me Just want to add for ukarmymom: The Nelson bench isn't cheap, but it is pretty bombproof! I worked at Herman Miller (maker of the original) and was able to buy one at employee discount. Then I married a man who also had one. Our dog jumps on it to look out the window, we've used it for a coffee table, end of bed, etc. Very durable besides being beautiful.

ukarmymom Thank you for your comment! Exactly how it will be used, one or all 3!

niloadelaida I myself am on a tight budget and need to get rid of my old carpeting. I will definitely do the plywood flooring. I will do my girls room first though. In case I mess up, lol. I will post before n after pics here when done.

Kerri Bain-Phillips what a great idea! Beautiful

Lisa A @Nicole Orner. Yes, I am a dork. Thanks for setting me straight. Joints, not joists, lol

tinarama For DIYers who appreciate a little more color - plywood is also super easy to dye. I saw a plywood floor in an artist's studio that was so gorgeous I just had to ask about it. She said she had stained the wood with Kool-aid, sanded, re-stained, and finished with beeswax. Rustic, yes. Funky, check. Cheerful, cheap, and charming, absolutely! Also nontoxic and just an awful lot of fun!