Engineered Wood Flooring Concrete Subfloor

Some engineered wood flooring products are designed for a glue down application when installing flooring over a concrete slab.

Engineered wood flooring concrete subfloor.

Moisture impacts the engineered hardwood flooring regardless of whether the subfloor is wood or concrete. Use a moisture vapor retarder between the subflooring and the hardwood flooring to prevent moisture from leaching through the joists and subfloor to negatively affect the hardwood above. Use a minimum 3 4 23 32 18 3 mm 4 x 8 subfloor panels. This way of fitting is well suited to engineered wood flooring and is popular and quick.

The glue down method of engineered wood flooring installation is typically the most common and creates a highly stable floor. The concrete subfloor must be sufficiently strong to safely support the flooring furniture and people in the room. Fasteners may be powder driven pins pneumatic driven nails screws deformed pins or other fasteners suitable for concrete application. Other products are better suited for a nail down installation where they are secured to a wood subfloor with nails or staples.

When installing engineered hardwood floors over radiant heated subfloors turn the heat off for 24 hours before during and after installation. When working on a clean concrete subfloor the glue down method is often the go to choice. Alternatively screw rows of treated 1x4s to the concrete 16 in. Jeff hosking a flooring consultant for this old house first began laying floors 35 years ago back then 90 percent of his work was installing solid wood strips with nails.

A floating floor isn t fixed to the subfloor instead it relies on the weight of the floor itself to keep it in place. But now half of the flooring he installs is engineered made of thin sheets of wood glued together like plywood. If you have a subfloor that consists of wood on top of concrete you ll need to test both floors. Check for cracks and crumbling.

Excessive moisture permeating from floor slabs after installation can cause floor covering system failures such as debonding and deterioration of finish flooring and coating and microbial growth. Boards adhere well to the rough surface of the concrete subfloor and therefore lead to less gaps or planks lifting and buckling. Floating installation for engineered wood flooring. Treated plywood to the concrete with concrete screws spaced every 16 in.

This is a popular subflooring option in the southern states and in areas where homes do not have basements. Lay 6 mil polyethylene sheeting over the concrete to minimize moisture migration from the concrete up into the wood flooring.