Help, raising subfloor 1/3 inch over radiant heating

Serendipity

I need advise on what material should be used to raise my concrete subfloor by 1/3 inch. The finished floor will be Engineered hardwwod. I have a hydronic radiant floor heating system and the contractor wants to use particle board which i know is a no no. Is 1/3 inch to thin for gypcrete? What are my best options?

Thank you,

Sandra

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

Why

Why would you raise your floor? Why not put the hardwood over the concrete, of course you will need a vapor barrier to prevent damage to the wood floor, you could transition to the other, higher rooms with a threshold.



Thanks. Bob Gagnon

icesailor

Raised Flooring:

Why on God's Earth would you want to cover a concrete floor with that junk "engineered" plywood veneer flooring? Within 5 years it will have wear patterns through the finish in high traffic areas. And it can't be repaired.

I don't know where you live but in Florida at the Lowes near me, they have floor tile that looks just like a wood floor. It comes in 12" X 32" tiles. You just stick it to the concrete with thin-set mortar and grout it. And you don't need to raise the floor for the insulating "engineered flooring" which will insulate your floor.

You can't get a good wood floor anymore. Solid wood like Oak or Maple isn't what it was because you can't get Alkyd Urethane finishes anymore. Just acrylic latex finishes (water based) where 5 coats will wear off in a couple of years in high traffic areas.

There is no end to what you can do with tile and it is easy to install. Add a "Mini-Split" A/C unit to the cellar to get rid of humidity in the summer and you will have the nicest room in the house. Cool and dry in the summer.

The Taunton Press has a book, "Tiling Complete" by Michael Schweit & Robin Nicholas that will tell you everything you will ever need to know about tiling.

If you or anyone else is interested, I will gladly give pointers.

Gordy

Details

Yeah why?



Less than 3/8 of an inch?



Is matching existing adjoining surfaces the reason? Could even shim that much.



Ice they do make some darn good engineered floors IF you want to spend the money.



Me I'm a solid wood guy, I have a source that makes nice flooring. You can still get some darn good finishes non water base around here. Even water base from Bona, street shoe etc. just gotta spend the dollars.

SWEI

1/3rd of an inch

where did that number come from?  What kind of tubing and plates are being used?



Solid wood flooring never went away -- it just got scary expensive.  We've been using pure Tung oil of late with very good results.  Needs a bit more routine maintenance than old-school urethane, but does not crack or chip from point loads.

icesailor

Wood Flooring:

If you want that warm look of wood that looks aged, you use an alkyd finish. If you don't mind that look of someone dumping a bucket of fresh water on the floor, you go with acrylic "fortified with polymers".

The floor finishing guys like the acrylic because they can put on two or three coats in a day. I haven't seen yet a laminate floor that didn't show signs of wear in high traffic areas after a year. If you are going to use the stuff, use a lot of throw rugs in high traffic areas. It's just "Wall To Wall" Carpet by another name. A lot easier to rip up than solid wood strip flooring, which you could have re-sanded at least two more times. Laminate gives you no re-sands.

Florida doesn't use wood floors because of termites (I guess), but they are loving Laminate flooring. Tile is still more popular. I had no idea how much floor tile is available until I hit Florida. Put it down, grout it, and you're done.

If you can make a pipe straight and square, you can tile. It's fun. Try it.

Gordy

Laminates and engineered wood

Ice there is a difference between the two.



There are engineered hardwood floors that can be resanded. But they are not the big box run of the mill flooring.



You can Amber tint the water base coatings to give that amber quality. Me I like the natural woods beauty.



Yes you are correct that the flooring guys like the water base due to its quick redcoats ability. But remember water base is harder than oil base so it chips easier. Where oil base is softer, and more flexible.

Gordy

Gypcrete

I assume this is radiant in gypcrete from the op.



I really have to wonder about this thin underlayment. Where are you going with this is it a floating install, glue down?

icesailor

Floor:

From his original post, I was under the impression that the floor was Concrete with radiant tubing inside. He just wanted to put something on top as a moisture or vapor barrier.

icesailor

Finishes:

I've made a lot of furniture. I never used any water based finish. I just re-did my kitchen on Florida. I used cherry cabinets. They have an acrylic finish, natural. No stain. It will be a lot longer before they get the dark aged color. My last house (2000) had cherry cabinets. Made by Mennonites in PA with an alkyd finish. In three years, they had that dark look.  The iceboats I built, all had three coats of clear WEST epoxy slow set, wet sanded between coats and then three coats of alkyd Poly urethane, wet sanded between coats. I never had to worry about melting ice water spots on the finish. Although I had plenty of dingers on the leading edge of the runner plank from flying ice chips from the front runner.

The only ice I see in Florida is ice in a bag or ice cream.

Check out the latest issue of Wooden Boat. On the cover and an article of Bill Bucholz from Maine and another boat he built. He really knows how to work with wood.



http://www.woodenboat.com/

M Lane

How about

1/4" plywood or Hardiebacker plus some thinset?

Gordy

Depends on

His objective with the underlayment.



Is this going to be an attachment layer for the finish floor? Hardi backer is out.



Is this serving as an attachment , and leveling layer to adjacent finish floors? If so quality plywood should be used.



Is this a leveling layer to adjacent floors with a floating floor assembly on top? If so the foam underlayment may get you close.