sub floor plywood?

[Calaverasgrande]

Couldnt find a better category. Assume it logically goes with insulation, since the point of a sub floor is to have insulation under it right?
Anyway, I'm well aware of Baltic Birch ply, but that seems to be in short supply.
Any preferences between maple pine and oak plywood?
My plan it to finish whatever plywood I get with some tough wearing finish. Either rhino liner or similar. Then lay rugs over it.
I'm wary of pine because it can be kind of soft.
Oak should be decent, not sure about maple.

 

[travelaround]

My floor is white oak. 1/2 inch over 1 inch insulation. It is a harder wood than pine, but still shows wear after two years. I'm about to cover it over with sheet vinyl flooring.

 

[MrNoodly]

I'm wary of pine because it can be kind of soft.

What will you be doing that might damage softer woods? And how much of your floor will always be under something else, out of high traffic areas?

 

[Calaverasgrande]

What will you be doing that might damage softer woods? And how much of your floor will always be under something else, out of high traffic areas?

I'm a musician, so I am trying to leave the middle area free to load in speakers, instruments and other equipment.
This is why I am thinking of harder plywood with truck bed spray on or just high traffic paint rolled on.
Not really into the vinyl flloor thing everyone does. Checked Lowes and Depot and all the samples that I saw look kind of tacky.
Rather just put a hard wearing surface down and cover it with throw rugs.

 

[MrNoodly]

...to load in speakers, instruments and other equipment.

Hmmm... Then how about using whatever low-cost plywood you can find, doing your bed line coating, then placing an office chair mat on top of where you'd put your equipment? Or go seriously rugged and put a sheet of steel over the ply before the bed lining?

 

[highdesertranger]

I agree if you are using bed liner I don't think it really matters what type of wood. Highdesertranger

 

[tradesman]

With hardwood plywood like maple and oak, the face veneer is very thin and usually has a  core of either fir (west coast) or poplar (east coast). Red oak which is the typical species of oak used has a hardness rating of 1220. Hard maple is higher at 1450 but soft maple is  only 950. Pine is 380.
Plywood manufacturers use soft and hard maple depending on whats available and just by looking you can't always tell. But the core will be the poplar 540 or fir 710. Baltic birch is in the 1200 range. with the core at 1200 so overall a harder plywood and most often without voids unlike the other plywoods. Baltic birch is also more water resistant than the other three you mentioned.

 

[Matlock]

^^^
What he said.

Veneer surface over plywood is decorative only. There is no durability implied. Typically used for vertical surfaces.
It might work if you use a few coats of Poly to seal and protect it. Think prefinished hardware store plank flooring.
You want a wear surface buy solid hardwood.

 

[maki2]

If you want Baltic Birch plywood the best approach is to find a local full service lumberyard and place an order. Then they can have the regional supplier deliver it to them.

I can get it from a couple of lumberyards in Flagstaff AZ, they had it in stock a few weeks ago.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

That sounds like a good idea.
There are a few in the general vicinity of Queens.

As far as soft wood with bedliner. I actually have experience with that! Like I said I'm a musician. More specifically a bass player.
In my younger years I had a nasty run of blowing up amplifiers from playing too loud. Youthful exuberance and whatnot.
So I went through dozens of speakers and speaker cabinets.
A few that I got a good deal on online were made of ultralight plywood and covered in bedliner.
Well bedliner only provides abrasion resistance really. If the stuff it's painted on isnt very stiff it gives way.
So yeah my fancy new online speakers got dented in on the edges and a few other places just from regular road wear.
There is a kind of super tough speaker cab covering that some places use but I have no idea what the brand is.
It's kind of like paint on fiberglass?

 

[crofter]

Three coats of polyurethane will make a nice waterproof surface for floor. The rhino lining keeps anything from sliding. I had that once and did not like it.
-crofter