Gluing Hardwood Floor To Concrete

Solid parquet hardwood flooring can be glued directly to a concrete slab on grade or above grade with the use of a manufacturer recommended vapor retarder.

Gluing hardwood floor to concrete.

Applications are more prominent with residential construction in sunbelt areas commercial locations and high rise dwellings. Gluing solid parquet flooring directly to a concrete slab. Once your subfloor preparation is complete and your floor is level it is time to choose an adhesive. Other products are better suited for a nail down installation where they are secured to a wood subfloor with nails or staples.

Installing plywood over the subfloor or using sleepers which are two by fours laid flat across the floor and used as nailers. All adhesives are not made the same. However advancements in engineered flooring have made above grade wood to concrete adhesion possible if certain conditions are met. I have seen some glue down 3 4 solid hardwood floors directly to concrete and many installers use straps or clamps in an effort to force board rows tighter together during installation.

Check with the manufacturer of your engineered wood to ensure that it s viable with the process. The national wood flooring association recommends two alternative installation methods. Some engineered wood flooring products are designed for a glue down application when installing flooring over a concrete slab. Glue wood flooring to a concrete slab a plywood core makes engineered flooring the most stable choice provided the slab is flat and dry by ken fischer issue 170 if you want to install flooring on a concrete slab your floor covering choices are limited.

Glue down hardwood floors on concrete the installation of hardwood floors by the glue down method is used predominately on concrete slabs. Be advised that over strapping can adversely affect the floor and may result in glue bond failure seam peaking twisted boards or out of square floor board alignment. While it s possible to glue hardwood flooring to concrete it s a messy and risky procedure and it s prone to failure. Then you are on your own with a cupped floor that no one will cover any warranty.

The concrete slab needs the proper moisture vapor protection underneath and proper drainage away from the building. In most instances hardwood flooring is never glued directly to concrete. There is no valid reason to glue a solid floor to concrete there are plenty of good engineered floors on the market the rh in the home must be maintained or it will cup.