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pickles16
Real Estate Professional
Member since 11/07 17227 total posts
Name:
Jen
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hardwood on concrete slab
Anyone do this and was it really expensive..
I know a lot of ppl do laminate over concrete, but I want real hard wood...there is vinyl tile already down over the slab so I'm wondering if we could put the wood floor over that??? The first floor of the house does not have hardwood but the other floors do and we want to put down hard wood on the first floor..
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Posted 8/6/10 8:09 AM  |
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Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate
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Elbee
Zanzibar
Member since 5/05 10767 total posts
Name:
Me
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
you have to level the floor then hammer drill plywood into the concrete (watch out for any piping!) -- then you can lay hardwood on top of the plywood. A lot of people choose not to do it.
We laid radient heat with sleepers in between (plywood rows), then put cement in between the sleepers over the radient heat tubing and then attached the hardwood to the sleepers. Labor intensive.
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| Posted 8/6/10 8:27 AM |
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CathyB
Member since 5/05 19403 total posts
Name:
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
I just asked about this, and 4 of the 5 contractors we met with said we could. 3 of them recommend engineered wood versus hardwood, but they assure me it's real wood, not laminate.
Link to my thread
ETA: The reason they said engineered wood in our case is that the room has a low ceiling and my DH is tall so I don't want to lose a few more inches to do traditional hardwood.
Message edited 8/6/2010 8:36:50 AM.
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| Posted 8/6/10 8:32 AM |
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Mom2Be07
LIF Infant
Member since 7/07 281 total posts
Name:
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
We just did. Cheaper than laying tile. Much more cost effective than we thought it would be. We originally were going to do a 'floating' hardwood floor, but it turns out that they tend to 'shift' when they are sanded. They came out amazing. We are very happy.
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| Posted 8/6/10 8:32 AM |
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Elbee
Zanzibar
Member since 5/05 10767 total posts
Name:
Me
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
Posted by CathyB
ETA: The reason they said engineered wood in our case is that the room has a low ceiling and my DH is tall so I don't want to lose a few more inches to do traditional hardwood.
That's a consideration also. We lost quite a few inches on our first floor from having to use the plywood sleepers & cement filler. My ceiling on my 1st floor are definitely lower than most houses.
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| Posted 8/6/10 8:40 AM |
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pickles16
Real Estate Professional
Member since 11/07 17227 total posts
Name:
Jen
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
OK, so what is the difference between engineered wood an then laminate..DH is totally opposed to laminate
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| Posted 8/6/10 10:36 AM |
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annoyedTTCer
LIF Adult
Member since 4/09 3272 total posts
Name:
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
can you do a floating hardwood floor?
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| Posted 8/6/10 2:09 PM |
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smdl
I love Gary too..on a plate!
Member since 5/06 32461 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
Posted by pickles16
OK, so what is the difference between engineered wood an then laminate..DH is totally opposed to laminate
Engineered is not a "photo film" on top. It's actual wood but it's only a several millimeters. The rest is like a plywood type. Thinks "VERY VERY THICK veneer". Because it's really wood on top, you can resand them up to 3 times.
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| Posted 8/6/10 4:44 PM |
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smdl
I love Gary too..on a plate!
Member since 5/06 32461 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
Posted by annoyedTTCer
can you do a floating hardwood floor?
You can't. You have to nail it to something underneath. Like plywood sheets or something.
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| Posted 8/6/10 4:45 PM |
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pickles16
Real Estate Professional
Member since 11/07 17227 total posts
Name:
Jen
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
Posted by smdl
Posted by pickles16
OK, so what is the difference between engineered wood an then laminate..DH is totally opposed to laminate
Engineered is not a "photo film" on top. It's actual wood but it's only a several millimeters. The rest is like a plywood type. Thinks "VERY VERY THICK veneer". Because it's really wood on top, you can resand them up to 3 times.
thanks so much!!! I just explained that to DH 
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| Posted 8/6/10 5:51 PM |
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alli3131
Peanut is here!!!!!!
Member since 5/09 18388 total posts
Name:
Allison
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
I have engineered wood floors cause i have radiant heat and cant put any fasteners in the slab. I love it. We have a dog and I was worried about scratches and its holding up very nicely.
Plus engineered wood doesn not expand and contract like solid wood floors so we dont have that problem with the moisture in the slab.
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| Posted 8/6/10 7:22 PM |
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Tah-wee-ZAH
Kisses
Member since 5/05 15952 total posts
Name:
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
We did it back in 2005/06.
They laid a moisture barrier, plywood and then hardwood on top.
There are pics in my house album... LR, the room with the enormous stone fireplace.
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| Posted 8/6/10 7:25 PM |
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Faithx2
All good things in 2016!!
Member since 8/05 20181 total posts
Name:
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
Always lay a moisture barrier on a slab. We laid real wood on a slab and even with a barrier it buckled in some spots and our 75 dog has marked it right by our bow window.. If we had to do it over again we'd do engineered(specifically Bruce) and lay it with glue. My DH laid my parents(Bruce) on a slab with adhesive and it looks gorgeous 6 yrs later.
Message edited 8/7/2010 10:12:25 AM.
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| Posted 8/7/10 10:10 AM |
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karenchad
LIF Adolescent
Member since 5/09 518 total posts
Name:
Karen
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Re: hardwood on concrete slab
We have hardwood over concrete also. You HAVE to put plywood down 1st so there is something to nail to. I would definitely do hardwood over laminate. Laminate can get scratched and you can't fix it, whereas with hardwood you can always sand and re-stain. We just had our refinished and went with just the poly and I am so happy with the outcome.
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| Posted 8/7/10 10:35 AM |
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