Engineered is real wood and if you look around, you can find unfinished engineered, so you can have it finished in place and not have the bevels if that is important to you. I didn't look at the videos provided so this might have been covered but here in Texas almost all houses are built with slabs at grade level and most of the new ones have wood on the ground floor.. There are several acceptable ways to do it: Plywood subfloor nailed to concrete and solid wood nailed to that (solid wood probably not as good in your case, these slabs all have vapor barriers under the slab, which you won't) or engineered glued to the plywood subfloor Engineered wood glued to slab (do a calcium chloride or other approved moisture test first) Vapor barrier and engineered wood floated over that. Many of the engineered woods allow floating installation, you have to glue the tongue and groove together. Different products are labeled for different types of installation, you have to be sure to check what they are labeled for. Find a reputable, knowledgeable NWFA installer, get them to do the moisture tests (the glue down a piece of plastic is not considered reliable) and then have them spell out your options. Now guess how I know all this? :-)

I'd like to somewhat EAT CROW. (recant my prev statement of no problems). As coincidence would have it, I had carpet laid in my latest remodel. They finished it last Tuesday. Whole house. With ONE EXCEPTION. All the crap that was all over the house has been stored in a sun room. This one room is concrete slab, and has one layer of 3/4" ply. This room has been "unconditioned" for 3yrs, nothing but the old carpet padding on the floor. Piled ceiling high with...stuff. Sealed off from the rest of the house, unconditioned, humid environment, vast temperature swings, and...the walls are nothing but jalousy glass. Emptied the last of the stuff out of this Sunroom last night so the carpet guys could come finish the house. I found one warped/bubbled at the edge 3/4" piece of plywood. I went ahead and pulled it up. Smelled musty underneath. There was a layer of tar paper in between ply and concrete. No mold growth bad enough to justify removing anything else. I fully expected it to be worse considering what I'd found. I think I found the cause though. This piece of ply is against the backside of a chimney. Appears water has been leaking around the chimney, running down the chimney, and then out underneath the plywood floor. Not a river, but, enough to cause this piece to warp. I can't complain too much though, that ply has been there almost 40yrs. Given the floor heights in between this room, and the rest of the house, I really have no choice but to replace it with what was there, and in the same manner. (correct? anybody?) AND..FIX THE LEAK! (seems it's difficult to find a roofers now days that know how to "flash" a chimney with something that doesn't come in a tube...lol)

I am about 150 miles south and just pulled out all tile and carpet replacing with new tile throughout except 4 bedrooms. i entertained the idea of polished concrete... love the look. But decided on tile and glad I did. Once everything was pulled up, found surprises. Cracks, funky chipped away part in three spots, and at some point some portion had linoleum or something (black glue gunk all over). Plus, if house is built right you should have expansion openings (the are called something fancier). If/when you tear out tile, be sure you have a budget to replace if needed.

You also need to make sure the floor under the carpet is level with the rest of the floor where you are putting the vinyl plank. It would look nice, if you could remove all the carpet and do it all with vinyl plank, but, I understand if you cant.