Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Hard wood parquet over subfloor okay?

Hello,
I really hope someone reads this soon b/c I'm going tomorrow to buy this I'm sure. Anyway, would it be okay to put hard wood parquet flooring on that "particle board" stuff? I think that's what it is (not sure) you know, the cheap stuff under the carpet in a mobile home? It's the tounge and groove kind, and does not seem all that hard to me. If I can put it over the current subfloor, are there any other things I need to keep in mind? The floor seems to be in great shape (have not ripped up carpet yet) Also, I read that some wood flooring can't be put down on a heated floor. Does that mean a floor that has vents in it like a mobile home, or like the fancy bathrooms with true "heated floors" ? Sorry, that confused me.

One more question: I want to paint my cabinets, however they are not real wood. mdf maybe? I don't know. Anyway, they are a dark color now. #1 can I paint them at all, or would it just chip off? #2 do I have to use something like Kiltz prior to painting?

Thanks soooo much in advance!

Hi! Wish I'd joined a few months back--I could have been more timely with an answer to your question. Hope some of this will still be of some use.

Regarding wood parquet, I would advise against it whether over the subfloor or over old linoleum. I put in interlocking wood tiles a few years ago in my kitchen and hall, and have had trouble with them ever since. They were installed over linoleum. Almost from the start these wood tiles would buckle and heave with every season change or protracted dry or humid spell. I'm told mobile homes have a certain amount of flex to them, and are always subtly changing shape, or at least mine is, and everybody's I know about. And the thing about the "heated floor"--I don't know what the person you talked to meant by heated floor, but I did find that most of the problems with my floor were near the area under which the heating duct passes.

I got so tired of my floor bowing upward and breaking with pressure, and the tiles sometimes even coming out of the interlock and swelling and overlapping one another, and getting stepped on, and breaking, that I've taken up these awful tiles and have a friend installing vinyl flooring squares. Not the pre-stickied kind, the kind that go down on real adhesive. Figure vinyl's not porous like wood, so it's not gonna swell up and shrink--so it shouldn't matter how much the trailer flexes from here on in. I'm hoping, anyway! I imagine you've done your floor already. If you did it in the wood, I hope you have better luck than I had.

Kitchen cabinets--not real wood. A laminate? Are they that shiny stuff with "rich wood look?" Gawd how I hate that stuff! I painted mine too! All you have to do is rough up the shine with sandpaper, then apply an interior primer. No Kilz necessary! Go over the primer with a couple of coats of semi-gloss and voila, bright and cheerful new kitchen! I did mine several years ago and have had no trouble with chipping. When the cabinets get dirty I sponge them clean--that's the advantage of the semi-gloss. You can do your fake wood panelling the same way if you're stuck with that stuff.

Particleboard subfloor is not an appropriate subfloor. It's made out of sawdust and glue. It will not hold nails or screws and there would likely be adhesion problems with a glue down product. You can, however, float an engineered wood floor over it or install new carpet.

Your question about painting kitchen cabinets should be posted in the Painting Forum where paint pros can respond.