Engineered vs. Solid Hardwood over radiant floor heating
Janna Andrews
14 days ago
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Minardi
14 days agoRelated Discussions
engineered hardwood floor over old hardwood floor
Comments (14)You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood....See Moreengineered hardwood over radiant heat
Comments (1)How was the flooring installed? Bead glued? Just pull up the quarter round and expose the underlayment. Electric underfloor systems are warming systems only, not room heating systems. They keep your feet from feeling cold. That's it. The temerature that you describe would be almost the max that you would want to heat the wood. Even hydrionic systems which are designed to heat the room shouldn't heat the floor above about 82-85ð....See MoreHelp! Hardwood vs porcelain tile for kitchen floor with radiant heat
Comments (14)The original kitchen had linoleum, and while planning our reno we debated between hardwood, laminate or porcelain tile. I hate having hot feet, so radiant heating has never been a consideration. I live in southwest British Columbia, so it doesn't get too cold, and our forced air ducting runs in the crawlspace beneath the kitchen, so the floors don't get that cold regardless.. Anyways, hubby, the kids love the ice machine in our fridge, and they are always dropping crushed ice. The kids are always having spills and the floor almost always has at least a drip of water here or there. It's a well used kitchen! Because of my concern about water, we ended up installing porcelain tiles. I have always been aware that I should wear shoes in the house because I have a mild foot deformity that is at risk of worsening without appropriate support, but I've always gone barefoot in my home. The tile changed that, my feet become painful if I don't wear my house slides if I'm spending the day baking, but I suppose it's a good thing for me to support my feet. Hubby has dealt with plantar fasciitis prior to changing the floor, so he always wears house shoes as well. We haven't noticed any pain in our hips or knees, but we are still quite young, and I'm sure wearing shoes helps with our alignment. Right after we installed our dishwasher on the new flooring, there was a big leak, and I'm glad I went with the tile! It's easy clean, I don't stress about the kids sliding their chairs and stools across it, and it's an attractive tile. I prefer the warmth of wood, but I know for our family, tile was the best choice, and we are willing to wear house shoes. I've brought wood into the kitchen in different ways, with the stools, utensil "pots", cutting boards, etc.. There will always be pros and cons, you just need to decide which has the least cons and the best pros for your situation :). Also, when you are considering cost, find out if you need to install subfloor. We ended up having to install ditra, which definitely added to the cost. Good luck making your decision....See MoreLVT with radiant floor heating vs. hardwood?
Comments (4)We have 2800 square feet of LVT throughout the first floor of our ranch house, bathrooms and kitchen included, and it is gorgeous. They were professionally installed; the subfloor was leveled so that there are no door transitions or height differences throughout, and it is a stunning look. Downstairs basement is engineered hardwood. If we ever need to redo the floors in the basement, it will be LVT. There is no going back; it is just too lovely and practical. The cork backing of the LVT makes the floors very comfortable underfoot, and they are very quiet. I considered tile with radiant heat until I spent a week in a beach condo with tile floors; they felt too hard under my feet....See Moredan1888
14 days agoUptown Floors
14 days agoJanna Andrews
13 days agoJanna Andrews
13 days agodan1888
12 days agolast modified: 12 days ago
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