Installing Engineered Wood Floor Over Concrete Slab

Your very first step before installing engineered hardwood floors over concrete is to let the boards acclimate to the room where they re going to be installed.

Installing engineered wood floor over concrete slab.

Then the engineered wood planks can be laid into the adhesive and locked together at their tongue and groove joints. Treated plywood to the concrete with concrete screws spaced every 16 in. Slab preparation is critical for glue down and includes sanding scraping leveling and filling low. Use a hammer and tapping block to make sure pieces fit.

Even if your home was built on a concrete slab you can still enjoy the beauty and charm of hardwood floors. Installing a nail down engineered hardwood floor step 1. Using a v notched trowel spread adhesive over a section of the floor. Installing a hardwood floor over a concrete slab.

How to install engineered wood over concrete apply adhesive. For starters while you can consider solid hardwood for at and above grade installations only engineered flooring with its plywoodlike construction is suitable below grade. Pre drilling saves the wood from cracking and makes for an easier job. How to install glue down engineered wood flooring on concrete slab preparation.

Carefully score the top of. Alternatively screw rows of treated 1x4s to the concrete 16 in. To save money try to reuse your baseboards a fresh coat can give them a new look. Plan to nail down the engineered hardwood flooring when you have a wood subfloor.

Check the drying time for your. The fact that your home is built on a concrete slabs does not preclude installing hardwood floors but several considerations apply not least of which is subfloor preparation. Experienced professionals pay close attention to managing moisture and minimizing wood floor expansion and contraction when preparing to install hardwood floors on concrete slabs. Nail down the first row for your first row face the tongue toward the center of the room pre drilling and nailing with finishing nails about 1 inch in from the wall.

Next check the boards for warpage or defects and then remove any bad ones. If the concrete has been painted you will need to remove it to guarantee adhesive will stick. Gluing works well when you are installing engineered hardwood over a concrete subfloor but be sure you clearly understand the manufacturer s application instructions before you glue that floor. Lay 6 mil polyethylene sheeting over the concrete to minimize moisture migration from the concrete up into the wood flooring.

A glue down installation requires premium wood adhesives to be properly troweled over the concrete slab. The adhesive manufacturer should have instructions regarding specific trowel requirements. Check the manufacturer s recommendations but in most cases it s a minimum of three days with no maximum. Before applying adhesives you must fill in any voids or deflections in the slab with a cementitious.