I'm considering installing engineered hardwood flooring in my house.
The house is built on a concrete slab, so traditional tongue & groove
flooring nailed to the subfloor is not an option. So gluing an
engineered product with a finished hardwood top layer is the material of
choice. But I'm getting conflicting information on what is needed in
the way of surface preparation. Two questions:

1) Does the surface of the concrete need to be leveled as you would do
for ceramic tile, or does the adhesive used for wood flooring perform
that function as well?

2) Do I need to seal the cracks in the slab before I put down the
flooring? The house is 9-1/2 years old, and settling cracks have
developed in the concrete in just about every room - none over 1/16"
wide, but I'm thinking these cracks could be a path for ground dampness
(and maybe termites?) to get at the flooring.

Thanks!

--Steve

On Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:48:06 -0800, Steve wrote:
I'm considering installing engineered hardwood flooring in my house.
The house is built on a concrete slab, so traditional tongue & groove
flooring nailed to the subfloor is not an option. So gluing an
engineered product with a finished hardwood top layer is the material of
choice. But I'm getting conflicting information on what is needed in
the way of surface preparation. Two questions:

1) Does the surface of the concrete need to be leveled as you would do
for ceramic tile, or does the adhesive used for wood flooring perform
that function as well?

2) Do I need to seal the cracks in the slab before I put down the
flooring? The house is 9-1/2 years old, and settling cracks have
developed in the concrete in just about every room - none over 1/16"
wide, but I'm thinking these cracks could be a path for ground dampness
(and maybe termites?) to get at the flooring.

It depends on the flooring. RTFM.

I recently installed 'fake' wood flooring which locked together but floated
on the floor. I would assume that you need to level the floor or the flooring
is going to creak.

"Steve" wrote in message
...
I'm considering installing engineered hardwood flooring in my house. The
house is built on a concrete slab, so traditional tongue & groove flooring
nailed to the subfloor is not an option. So gluing an engineered product
with a finished hardwood top layer is the material of choice. But I'm
getting conflicting information on what is needed in the way of surface
preparation. Two questions:

1) Does the surface of the concrete need to be leveled as you would do
for ceramic tile, or does the adhesive used for wood flooring perform that
function as well?

It does not have to be as perfect as tile. Check to see if gluing is
acceptable for you flooring. Most on or below grade should be install with
a poly barrier and floating.


2) Do I need to seal the cracks in the slab before I put down the
flooring? The house is 9-1/2 years old, and settling cracks have
developed in the concrete in just about every room - none over 1/16" wide,
but I'm thinking these cracks could be a path for ground dampness (and
maybe termites?) to get at the flooring.

Thanks!

They don't have to be sealed, but there usually is a barrier.

In article , "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:

2) Do I need to seal the cracks in the slab before I put down the
flooring? The house is 9-1/2 years old, and settling cracks have
developed in the concrete in just about every room - none over 1/16" wide,
but I'm thinking these cracks could be a path for ground dampness (and
maybe termites?) to get at the flooring.

They don't have to be sealed, but there usually is a barrier.

Yes, I'd be amazed if the manufacturer doesn't require a vapor
barrier when installing over slab as a condition of the warranty.

Hey, it's cheap and easy -- there's no reason to skip on the barrier.

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