Hardwood flooring (hardwood floor, house, buying)

[Samana]

I would like to put down hardwood floors on the entire first floor of my house - except for the kitchen, powder room and foyer, where I want tiles. However, my next door neighbor just had her entire 1st floor done and she did laminate wood. She says that since we are on concrete slabs, that we cannot get real hardwood floors. Is this true?

[lmhelms]

There is more involved in installation and can be costly, but we just had the hallways done in our house. It's also built on a concrete slab.

[Samana]

I just spoke to a co-worker of mine and she also has a concrete slab and has hardwood throughout her entire 1st floor. I guess my neighbor just prefers the laminate over hardwood...or the contractor jipped them. Even though, I couldn't tell the difference between laminate and real wood anyway. - and her floors, although laminate, they look beautiful!

[yantosh22]

You can't use traditional tongue and groove 3/4 inch hardwood because this is meant to be nailed down with cleats into a wood sub-floor as it needs this "give" since it expands and contracts with the changes in humidity. With a cement slab you are going to have to use an artifical product that either "floats" or is glued to the concrete. Usually this means a manufactured laminate but the top surface can be real wood. Unfortunately however, for a real wood floor, you need a crawlspace.

If you have a 2nd story, you can put down this type of hardwood IF the builder used 3/4 inch plywood (not OSB and not 1/2 plywood) for the sub floor. Unfortunately, this is where many of them will cut corners because people buying homes, even expensive ones these days, never check.

I agree with you 100% not to put hardwood in a kitchen. It's a disaster if you really use the kitchen to cook.

[NC72]

You CAN put traditional hardwood on a slab(I never thought it was possible until I saw it) but there us usually a layer of treated plywood down between the slab and the hardwoods. This allows the hardwoods to be nailed in the traditional manner. Hardwood looks and feels so much better than laminate,IMO, but it's amazing what they can do with laminate these days.

[yantosh22]

Your best bet is to go with the recommendation of the hardwood floor manufacturer. I don't see where this is enough thickness to allow for a hardwood cleat. I suppose staples can be used instead, but I don't think that yields a floor with the right kind of give. IMO, it's best to use a product that is designed to be installed on a concrete sub-floor.

[coastalgirl]

If we had to build our home over again I'd do a crawlspace over slab for this very reason. We have engineered hardwood and it is so scratched up from the dogs, but apparently it can only be refinished once in its lifetime. It's such a bummer b/c unlike real hardwood, it'll never get back to looking new again. We're considering replacing with a high quality laminate, but I'm not sure yet.

[ncsustash]

We have engineered hardwoods down on our concrete slab. It can be put down either floating or glued (like ours). I would agree that you can't use 3/4" traditional hardwoods, but those are often not the choice unless the house is built for them. Engineered hardwoods are the way to go.

Most of the time with the engineered floor it is only the coating that is scratched up. There are products that allow you to scuff the top coating and reapply the clear coating on top. This can also be done by professionals.

[barbecue_is_a_noun]

just remember that high heels can do some serious damage to hardwoods - I had them and invested in area and walkway rugs to prevent nicks.

[NC72]

Yes, you can put down 3/4 hardwood on a slab. Do a quick google search. Do people who live in big new mansions with a slab put cheap laminate in them? No. It takes some acclimation time with the plywood and the hardwood but nothing too technical. If your floor person doesn't know how to do this, then find one that does. If you are putting them in yourself, maybe laminate is your best choice.

Installing Hardwood Floors -- Over Concrete Slabs