How to install hardwood over slab heat

Mark H.

I have a customer that wants to intall hardwood floors over a radiant concret slab. What methods? Sleeprs then puor concrete between or glue down 3/4 inch pressure treated plywood, then lay hardwoos?

Unknown

well

First and best choice is always floating floor. And it's always important to let the slab dry before installing the wood, and to install wood with a proper moisture content, and to let the wood acclimize to the job site before installing.

However, economics or flooring choices sometimes rules out floating floors. If it's a thin pour of concrete, sleepers work well. If not, maybe a glue down hardwood product?
_______________________________

Northeast Radiant Technology, LLC

Robert Brown, Co-Owner, RPA certified Radiant Designer

207.899.2328
NRT@maine.rr.com

hr

My choice would be

a floating or glue down laminate or engineered hardwood. Much more stable than solid wood.

Floating or glue down would depend on the brand selected, the manufactures installation requirements, installers skill, etc.

If glue down is your final choice get a good, make that great, smooth, flat finish on the slab. Skilled concrete finishers and a large power trowel in the hands of a qualified operator will make a huge difference. Hardwood installs on a wavy gravy concrete slab are a drag

Floating hw with a thin foam pad below may help, depends.

Plenty of radiant/ wood floor advise on the www from most all the wood manufactures and associations. Search around.

hot rod

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Mark H.

Hardwood flooring

My customer does not want another flooring except hardwood. We remove the existing brick flooring, that left behind a wavy subfloor of another layer of bricks.This dropped the floor level 2" to 3". Contractor wants to use sleepers (going to be difficult with the unlevel subflooring)and pour cement between sleeper. I will be install 1/2 inch tubing between sleepers before they pour.Has anyone layed tubing on brick and then pour light weight concrete over it? Then glued 3/4" pressure treated plywood down onto the cement floor? Can hardwood floors be nailed down to the plywood?

Carl PE

Check with your flooring mfr. I just put 3/4" "Bruce" oak floor in my dining room (not over radiant). The instructions specifically say not to install this product on a radiant floor.

A laminate or engineered wood will probably be ok.

S Davis

Kahrs

Try www.kahrs.com they make engineered floating floors with a real wood surface that can be refinished up to two times, a very stable choice for wood over radiant.
And they have alot of different wood choices and sizes of boards.


S Davis


Apex Radiant Heating

Weezbo

Mark...

My buddy asked me to do this i said..even sleepers eventually move. so he asked well what ta do? well best thing i know of is a very special type of cement sealer...I think... called Crown Sealer. and some Industrial floor sealer with metal halyides in it i dont know where one would get either these days...EPA and all... There is a floor covering that could indeed be used however it cost 12.50a SQ FT. no water will Ever make it through the stuff. EvEr however the stuff ain zackly smooth...has flakes of metal and plastics of some sort ....
any who ....with that critical detail ..Non Permeable part taken care of then all you need is a superior carpenter who knows how to lay hard wood floors without pounding nails into pipes........My buddy a hard workin Irishman up at 5 and running full blast decided to bag that idea and put plywood down nd go with that as a n underlayment...by christmas my other Irish buddy and i were overthere looking at a divine mess. Now what ta do?well i says Lose the plywood and the wood go with floating lino... my buddy tim thought the same thing...we convinced our friend Shean that it would look good and outlast the previous floor at a fraction of the expense. (Shean is a good carpenter,General contractor ,so it wasnt from lack of care in his initial install...no moisture can be added to the equasion ...at first it looked like a piece of furniture clean as a whistle...months later:( he extremely dissapointed with the whole deal.) while he didnt like the linolium idea from the start...after all his hard work and money went Kabloowie...he was a bit more recptive to its functionality. Even Those floating laminate floors can look ehem...different...from time to time.use a good sealer.i havent covered my new 5/8Ths slab over slab yet and its been three months ...I just really have a need to do my Level Best.and checking everything Wild 40 degree temp water changes now and anything i can dream of to frick it up except adding water. in a while i will see just how well this new radiant floor slab is able to shed water Poured directly on it.i expect it to Bead. like it hit oil. sorry for Too much information.