How to Install Solid Hardwood Floor?

Concrete subfloors are typically in the form of a solid concrete slab like a basement floor. A concrete slab makes for a durable, solid, hard, and smooth subfloor.

Some flooring materials like stone & tile can be directly installed over concrete. However, most flooring materials (such as engineered & solid hardwood flooring) require an underlayment and/or moisture barrier.

Even though concrete releases & is susceptible to moisture from the ground, engineered and solid hardwood can be installed over concrete with proper precautions.

How to install solid hardwood floor will be discussed further here.

Installing Solid Hardwood Floor on Concrete

In relation to how to install solid hardwood floor on concrete slab, there are 3 methods you can consider:

Glue down engineered hardwood flooring to concrete slab above & below grade!

This method is best for basement installations and homes, apartments, as well as condos. With this method, engineered flooring will be radiant heat compatible. For your information, engineered is the most durable hardwood flooring against temperature fluctuations and humidity. Then, engineered also offers wider planks widths compared to solid hardwood flooring. In addition, you can immediately install engineered flooring without acclimation. However, you need to know that this method requires moisture-control underlayment or barrier.

Glue down solid hardwood flooring to concrete slab above grade

This method is best above ground apartments and condominiums. Like the first method, this one also requires moisture-control underlayment or barrier. Here, solid hardwood flooring offers various styles, colors, and species of wood. You also need to keep in mind that solid hardwood flooring requires about 48 to 72 hours to acclimate before you can install it. For your information, it doesn’t raise the height of the floor.

Secure a plywood subfloor on concrete& nail down solid hardwood flooring above grade

This method is best for above ground apartments & condos. Here, solid hardwood flooring offers different colors, styles, and species of wood. Then, solid hardwood flooring also requires 48 to 72 hours for acclimating before you can install it. Besides that, moisture barrier under treated plywood is also required. Since the cost of plywood is lower compared to adhesives, this method is the most budget-effective one. In addition, it adds around a 1, 5” to the height of the floor.

Read More : Benefits Of Solid Hardwood Floors in Indonesia

Sanding Hardwood Floor

Wood floors are durable & long lasting. Normally, they last as long as the house itself. However, there are times that the finish should be refreshed by sanding the floor. So, how many times can a solid hardwood floor on be sanded?

For solid ¾” hardwood, about ¼” of the material above the tongue can be removed before the hardwood is weakened. Since sanding will normally remove from 1/64 – 1/32 of the wood surface, you can sand the surface from 6 – 10 times or more, before you have to replace the floor entirely. If you resurface the floor every 10 – 20 years, the floor will last for more than a century.

Normally, engineered wood flooring products have a ¼” thick surface layer that allows about the same number of sanding as solid wood flooring materials. If any, veneered flooring products have a thinner surface layer & cannot withstand many sanding. You should ask the manufacturer or local home improvement store if it is wise to sand the surface of the veneered flooring products you have.

There’re a few other factors that could make a difference for your floor. Serious abuse or gouges can require a heavier sanding that would remove more wood than normal.

Of course, that will decrease the number of times your floor can be sanded.

Furthermore, people will sand in various ways. Professionals have experience which allows them to determine how much wood is being removed more accurately. Because it is difficult to determine how much wood is being removed exactly, anyone doing the job themselves can remove more wood than needed. Since there are no serious problems with the floor, there’re a few processes that will only remove the surface finish & virtually no wood.

If you’re a DIY homeowner, you should inquire at a local home improvement store how that would work for your floor. As we know, wood floors are really long lasting& add to the beauty of your home. Anyway, sanding & refinishing will put back the original gleam as well as is a good way to improve the look of your home.

Floating a Solid Hardwood Floor

Even though you can successfully float a solid wood floor, floating a hardwood floor is not recommended because solid wood flooring is more susceptible to movement than engineered flooring, due to its fluctuating moisture as well as humidity levels. Solid hardwood is in a constant state of change, due to the effects of falling & rising temperatures.

So, can you float a solid hardwood floor? Without a doubt, it has some advantages. It is not only the most DIY-friendly of all the installation methods, but also a fast & simple way of either laying or having new floor. Essentially, it fits over an underlay. Therefore, the floor & the subfloor are not in contact.

There’re a few methods to install solid hardwood flooring:

• Glue-down

It involves the application of a bonding agent/adhesive to the subfloor that might be either wood or concrete. The advantage is that it is very stable when done well/properly.

• Nail-down

This method may be the most straightforward one. However, it should only be used on a wooden subfloor. If you install or have your solid hardwood floor installed on plywood or chipboard, the direction you lay the planks doesn’t matter. However, if you lay your new floor on existing floorboards, you need to lay the new boards at 90° to the old one.

• Staple-down

This method is really familiar to nail-down installation. It is the only difference being that staples are used instead of nails for attaching the floor to the subfloor. Sometimes, it is even simpler to execute compared to nail-down installations.

Therefore, although floating installation is not an excellent way of fitting a solid hardwood floor, there’re a few other options you can consider, that will ensure a stable & long-lasting result.

Closing

Okay, all of those steps are steps to install solid hardwood floor. If you still confuse to get the best hardwood floors, you can try contact us. We are Jati Luhur Agung, an experienced manufacturer of wood flooring. We have a lot of certificates upon our products. So you should not worry with our products. Click here to have a chat with us

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