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I'm looking into finishing my attic and turn it into a man cave. I had someone look at the joist and they said it was up to code for adding a floor. There is already 1/2-in. OSB subfloor in place, but the person said I need 3/4-in. OSB. With lumber prices the way they are, can I save some money and just add another layer of 1/2-in. OSB? Or should I just rip it up and put down 3/4-in.? I just plan on putting in carpet for the floor.
Thanks for the help.
You could add 3/4" sheets of plywood/OSB to the subfloor if you wanted.
The code requires a 3/4" subfloor as a minimum, but there is no maximum until you exceed the physical limits of the structure. There are, of course, practical limits, as 12" of subflooring is ridiculous, but adding a 1/2" layer to an existing 1/2" layer to have a 1" thick subfloor will not give you any issues at inspection time. You won't be flagged for overbuilding the structure.
The extra 1/4" will come in handy should you (or a future owner) ever decide to go with a more picky flooring like tile or floating laminate flooring.
Yes, you can add another 1/2" layer. It was common in the US during the 70s and 80s to use one layer of 1/2" plywood and a layer of 5/8" particle board. Since particle board is crap, two layers of OSB is much better. In fact, I've replaced the particle board in such floors with OSB. The results were very nice.
Just be sure to fasten it down well to avoid noise, and stagger all joints. Consider a zigzag of construction adhesive between joists.
