Solid Wood on Concrete Slab

[Alan L.]

We are leaning toward using solid oak flooring in our new house. We have a concrete slab. The stips and planks or 3/4". First, they put down a plastic vapor barrier, cover that with 5/8" plywood, then felt paper, then they nail the flooring on that.

This is being done alot around here, and I don't personally know of any problems. My sister had hers done 2 years ago with no problems so far. We have toured several new homes and basically they all have the solid flooring. Easy to tell, because its very tall (thats another issue, but the builders deal with it).

I have been on some building forums and while many have done what we plan to do, some professional floor installers advise strongly against putting solid wood on concrete because of the potential moisture problem. One even sent me some pictures, and they weren't pretty.

We have looked at alot of engineered floors and frankly have not been able to find anything we like even close to the solid wood floors that are custom scraped, distressed, and finished according to our taste.

Anybody have any experiences with this, good or bad?

 

[Tom_H]

With the modern laminate panels, many installers also lay down a layer of thin flexible foam padding. It insulates as well as softens the impact when walking. These floors are usually allowed to "float", i.e. the panels are glued to each other to form a monolithic sheet of wood, but the wood is not secured to the floor. It is allowed to expand and contract at the perimeter beneath the trim.

I have 3/4" oak in the great room of my log house. When we built, it was just the wife and I. Now the house is full of kids and pets, not the best thing for hardwood floors. Twenty years ago, linolium that resembled wood looked horrible. Today there are vinyl floorings that look so much like wood, that a close look from 1' away cannot distinguish the difference. Tiny grain patterns look completely real. Also, the material has a 3 dimensional appearance with a 1/16 or more groove between each "plank". In local grocery stores having this material, I have searched for, and simply cannot find the seams between sheets. If I were building the same house today, I surely would use this material instead of real wood.

 

[gsganzer]

That's the way ours was done. They put a vapor barrier under the slab before the pour. Then they laid down plastic, put down 3/4" plywood, then felt paper then the 3/4" oak flooring. The felt paper is for noise dampening, so the floor doesn't sound hollow as you walk across it. They can also use a thin foam product or a cork product as the noise dampener. The cork is the best, but it's pricey.

Give some consideration to your floors final finish. Our neighbors had wood floors put in with a gloss or satin finish and they hate it. It shows every piece of dust and they never look clean. Scratches show up real bad too.

We went with a "hand scraped" finish. This gives the floor a distressed look and helps to hide dirt and scratches. Before they finish the floor, they take a bucket of water a sponge and a scraper. They wet a small 3' x 3' area and get the grain to raise, then drag the scraper across it. They repeat this process over the entire floor. It looked like the most labor intensive job I've ever seen. We really like the result though.

As a side note: If you do the handscraped floor, make sure you test your stain color on the same stuff. Your stain will be substantially darker on the scraped wood.

I can send you some more photo's of the finished floor that give you a better idea of the color and texture.

 

[Alan L.]

GSganzer, thanks for the pics. We plan to have some stressing done, and not to have a pristine shiny appearance, for the reasons you mentioned. The floor installer we want to use in located in Van Alstyne.

 

[mikim]

Tom H --- I'd sure like to seed some of that vinyl / wood .... do you know the name of it? What do I ask for when I walk into a flooring store? We've been looking but I haven't seen anything like that. We have time - we're not building for 3 years yet.

 

[Alan L.]

Tom H --- I'd sure like to seed some of that vinyl / wood .... do you know the name of it? What do I ask for when I walk into a flooring store? We've been looking but I haven't seen anything like that. We have time - we're not building for 3 years yet.

MIkim, I saw some of the vinyl flooring that looks like wood at Floors America in Garland. But it costs about the same as hardwood flooring, as I recall.

 

[mikim]

Price is not a huge factor --- this is going to be the one and only house I ever have built...and the last house I'll ever live in ---- If at all possible the things I use in it will be top notch...... The ideal situation is to use all top of the line materials and appliances and have everything last 20 years without repair. After that -- oh well.... We're going to have wood subfloors that may move a bit so I don't want to use tile ---- and I don't want real hardwood because of the sand / dirt & upkeep..... the wife wants old fashioned vinyl like her parents have (it's 45 years old and shows it) ---- I'm caving on the vinyl - but want it to look good. I was actually looking at laminate -- but for the most part don't like the way laminate sounds when you walk on it. This stuff sounds like a good alternative with all the answers.

 

[shvl73]

How about a single plank engineered floating floor?
Real wood surface, single plank width so staggered joints are do-able for the "real" look, floating is perfect for application where you cannot get adequate nailing and stability unmatched in a solid wood product.

 

[mikim]

a single plank engineered floating floor? a what? huh? .....excuse my ignorance here ----exactly what is that?

 

[shvl73]

a single plank engineered floating floor? a what? huh? .....excuse my ignorance here ----exactly what is that?

Engineered floating flooring is a thick veneer of real wood over a plywood substrate. Single plank versions appear as a single piece of flooring, unlike some other types of floating floor where the appearance is of three pieces all butt joining at the same joint. I'll look for a website.

 

[shvl73]

Here is a link to a brand of engineered floating floor: About Bellefloor

 

[Alan L.]

Price is not a huge factor --- this is going to be the one and only house I ever have built...and the last house I'll ever live in ---- If at all possible the things I use in it will be top notch...... The ideal situation is to use all top of the line materials and appliances and have everything last 20 years without repair. After that -- oh well.... We're going to have wood subfloors that may move a bit so I don't want to use tile ---- and I don't want real hardwood because of the sand / dirt & upkeep..... the wife wants old fashioned vinyl like her parents have (it's 45 years old and shows it) ---- I'm caving on the vinyl - but want it to look good. I was actually looking at laminate -- but for the most part don't like the way laminate sounds when you walk on it. This stuff sounds like a good alternative with all the answers.

This particular one I saw really does look like wood, but not a species of wood that I think is particularly attractive, if that makes any sense. Basically, I thought it was wood when I first saw it - ugly wood.

There are probably other flavors.