Installing a hardwood floor over a concrete slab.
How to lay wooden floor on concrete uk.
Before the wooden floor can be laid down it is first important to ensure that there is not a great deal of moisture in the area sometimes common when dealing with concrete.
If you re going for a solid wood floor this will take the longest time to acclimatise with roughly one week being the recommended period to leave it out of the packaging.
We don t recommend installing over chipboard and instead would suggest a floating floor such as engineered wood flooring or laminate flooring.
Although easiklip is the easiest hardwood floor to install over concrete there are three things you must do before laying floating floor.
How to lay solid wood flooring over a concrete subfloor.
For one there s less insulation.
Treated plywood to the concrete with concrete screws spaced every 16 in.
Even if your home was built on a concrete slab you can still enjoy the beauty and charm of hardwood floors.
Either solid wood flooring or engineered wood flooring can be fitted onto a concrete subfloor.
Also the possibility of dampness however small is greater when there are fewer membranes between your concrete foundation and your floating floor.
Lay down a moisture barrier.
Use a flexible wood to concrete adhesives such as laybond or soudal polymer.
However it can easily be installed directly onto your subfloor.
Laying a solid hardwood strip floor is easier and faster if you choose a prefinished product to avoid the extra work of sanding staining and finishing.
Lay 6 mil polyethylene sheeting over the concrete to minimize moisture migration from the concrete up into the wood flooring.
Installing solid wood flooring onto concrete.
Experienced professionals pay close attention to managing moisture and minimizing wood floor expansion and contraction when preparing to install hardwood floors on concrete slabs.
If your subfloor is concrete cover it with a wood or engineered wood subfloor first.
The first consideration you will need to make is how you are going to attach your planks to the floor.
How to lay solid wood flooring on concrete.
This will prevent any excess moisture from wicking from the concrete directly into the wood.
Solid wood flooring is made from one single piece of wood and can be highly sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity as this can cause the wood to expand and contract.
Laying down your floating flooring directly onto concrete is a no no.
Solid wood flooring must be glued down directly onto the screed and engineered wood flooring can be either glued down or floated over an underlay without being fixed into place.
Most concrete subfloor consists of a sand and cement screed mixture.
Even if the levels of moisture are relatively low it is wise to install a protective layer known as a vapour retarder over the concrete.