Wood Flooring On Concrete Subfloor

Solid wood flooring is never recommended below grade but some solid wood flooring manufacturers now recommend their products for glue down over slabs.

Wood flooring on concrete subfloor.

New concrete is heavy with moisture and it must be a minimum of 30 days old before moisture testing begins. Learn how to install beautiful hardwood floors over a concrete slab. Check your flooring manufacturer s recommendations to ensure you re using a proper subfloor. Determining moisture content of both the wood flooring and the subfloor is an important part of quality control in the flooring installation process.

Concrete is a common subfloor material and in general it s easy to prepare for a luxury vinyl flooring installation project. If the slab is out of specification consider grinding floating or both. Laminate is a budget friendly attractive alternative to hardwood flooring. How to install a glued subfloor over concrete.

Typically manufacturers will specify a flatness tolerance of 1 8 in a 6 foot radius and or 3 16 in a 10 foot radius. Use a 6 staple pattern at the perimeter of the subfloor. Laminate planks snap together and float above a subfloor which means tiny subfloor imperfections are okay although again a level subfloor will help prevent damage. Check for cracks and crumbling.

Floated subfloor alternate subfloor glue down sub floor and the nail down subfloor system. The concrete subfloor must be sufficiently strong to safely support the flooring furniture and people in the room. To level a subfloor for installing laminate follow the directions above to remove high and low spots. If your concrete subfloor was just poured you ll need to allow it to properly cure for a minimum of 60 days before your luxury vinyl flooring installation begins.

As with a floated subfloor nwfa recommends a vapor retarder for glue down subfloors when installing wood flooring over concrete. A vapor retarder is recommended any time you install a solid 3 4 inch wood flooring over concrete. Make sure the concrete slab is flat to the wood flooring manufacturer s specification. Get a comprehensive breakdown on which materials to use what to take into consideration and what steps to take for four subfloor systems.

Subfloor must be flat. If you have a subfloor that consists of wood on top of concrete you ll need to test both floors.