Hardwood flooring on concrete?

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hi All, Hope everybody is having a nice weekend.

When installing wood flooring on concrete what's the best type to buy? I'm guessing the thinner laminate kind would be good for this. I've seen laminate types made of ply with a thin solid wood top about 1/8" thick. But how would this hold up with moisture coming through the slab. Thanks for any ideas.

[James Stokes]

When installing hardwood on concrete you need the plywood kind. It will hold up to some ground moisture from the concrete. But if you get a lot of moisture the glue will release.

[Chris Mann]

You can install real hardwood floor over concrete, but it requires some prep. You need to put down a vapor barrier (or trust that you get no moisture through the concrete) and then either sleeper studs or 2 layers of plywood. You end up loosing a couple inches of head room though.

[Jay Goddard]

I've just purchased several hundred square feet of engineered hardwood flooring designed to "float" over a moisture barrier over a concrete floor. It has one thin bottom ply, one thick quartersawn pine layer with a snap-lock feature, and a ~1/8" solid top layer. Over 1/2" thick, manufactured in Germany. 6" x 8' planks.
Mohawk Flooring, "Natural Inspirations", ~$4/ft and up.

I haven't installed it yet, but it looks like quality flooring.

[Norman Hitt]

IIRC Mesquite flooring is approved for direct glueing to concrete, but it's probably pretty expensive.

[lou sansone]

You can install real hardwood floor over concrete, but it requires some prep. You need to put down a vapor barrier (or trust that you get no moisture through the concrete) and then either sleeper studs or 2 layers of plywood. You end up loosing a couple inches of head room though.

I agree with chris. I did a lot of research before putting my hardwood floor down. It has worked out great. I highly recommend it.

lou

[Cecil Arnold]

I had glue-down laminate in my last home, directly glued to the concret. In the seven years we were there we did not have a problem with the floor/concret, but had to get a couple of call backs because the installer did not level the concret prior to layinmg the floor. I now have a glue together floating floor in one room and didn't even realize it was not real wood until it got scratched. I would opt for the floating-snap together with a vapor barrier if I had not already put in tile.

[Chris Padilla]

My father and I put down solid oak strip flooring in the basement. We simply Liquid Nailed down some 1x sleepers (maybe thicker...don't recall) along with nailing them into the floor with one of those nail guns that uses a .22 caliber shell casing to fire the nail.

Now this was back in the early 80s so things might be done differently now....

[Scott Parks]

If you use an epoxy paint coating on the concrete, I BET you wouldn't have a moisture issue.

Just yesterday, on DIY Network, they were installing a foating underlayment over concrete to be covered with carpet. Very neat idea. It was about 2'x2' squares of T&G OSB backed with a hard rubber sheet with 1/4" raised buttons on the underside. They also included interlocking shims to go underneath for depressions or variations in the concrete, and to level it. In my next house, this is probably what I will use to finish my basement. Ill see if I can find a pic....

Here's an article I found on hardwood over concrete:
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/diy_kits/article/0,2019,DIY_13787_3790832,00.html

And here's the link to the floating subfloor panels. I think these would accomodate a floating hardwood floor also...
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/hi_basement/article/0,2037,DIY_13902_3891160,00.html
According to the manufacturer's website, this product is sold at Home Depot.

[Lee DeRaud]

Just yesterday, on DIY Network, they were installing a foating underlayment over concrete to be covered with carpet. Very neat idea. It was about 2'x2' squares of T&G OSB backed with a hard rubber sheet with 1/4" raised buttons on the underside. They also included interlocking shims to go underneath for depressions or variations in the concrete, and to level it.
I saw that show: looked like it was designed more as a thermal barrier. The OSB on the panels only looked to be 1/2" at best, not sure you'd want to be nailing/stapling hardwood strip flooring to it. But it might be ok as a support and/or moisture barrier for a "floating" system.

[Keith Hooks]

That underlayment looks like it would make for a warm and comfortable floor. But, they also look espensive. I wonder how much weight they're designed to support.

[Sam Shank]

Bostich sells a product called MVP. It's a liquid that you trowel down. Forms a tough rubbery film.

Go to your local hardwood flooring supply store and talk to them. They get a few DIYers in there, and are usually helpful. I'm not talking about a showroom with a store front. This should be like a warehouse type place where you can take your sander and they'll fix it, stock some wood, finish, etc. If they sell other flooring other than wood look elsewhere.

Good luck, Sam

[Dan Stuewe]

We glued down 7/16" thick Santos Mahogany onto our slab. We used Bostiks Best without a vapor barrier (house is 20+ years old). I did try to test for moisture by taping down a 3x3 sheet of plastic for a couple days and found no moisture. The guy we hired to install the stairs thought my plan was good. He said a more robust moisture test would cost a fair amount of $$$. I checked for flatness and felt that I met the requirements for the floor/glue (as I recall something like 3/16" over 8'. The end result is beutiful, but I credit most of that to the wood. There are several places were the floor will "creak". The pro said all it will take is to drill a small hole in the wood and fill with epoxy and then touch up. I still haven't tried this yet. There is also one small area where a few boards are cupped. They may not have been aclamated to the house, but I did have all the wood in the house for a few weeks before we started (they were still in the boxes though). So that might be a small area where some moister is?

About the only advice I can give is to make sure you do a good job sweeping up the floor throughout the install. And don't lay too much glue down at once. After the first day we got pretty quick, but I think in one area I poured out too much and instead of just putting some back in the bucket, I just kept spreading it around. If you want to see what it looks like you can take a look at my home page under the remodeling heading.

Good luck

[Alan Tolchinsky]

There is a lot of excellent info. here. The glue down method sounds good but the floating floor looks very clean and simple. I may be laying this over a vinyl floor so maybe the floating floor would be easier here. That way I might not have to remove the vinyl floor and it would act as a vapor barrier. Make sense?

Thanks again for all the info. and the links. I'm sorry not to thank you all individually. My tired brain won't allow that. :)