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Charlie: Mike in Hitchcock says, “I have a house on the water. It’s raised about 12 feet on pilings, Tom.” Kind of over the water, actually. Anyway, “It has tongue and groove subfloor and I would like to put either a laminate or hardwood floor down. What should I put between the final floor and the subfloor? Do I need plywood?”
Tom: You need some kind of subflooring. I don’t know what your subfloor is there but a layer of plywood might be helpful. Maybe not, depending on what you use. I would not use hardwood, especially being close to the water. You’re going to have all kinds of moisture issues. I definitely would used an engineered laminate floor and if that’s the case, you might not need the plywood. Let the installers take a look at it. Also, install it with whatever the underlayment is required for that particular floor.