Jerry, thanks for the input. Well, that's a bummer, but since this is going to be an DIY project, It doesn't make since to take additional risks (since the pros have reservations). I am going to go with the BR111 Triangulo 3/8 engineered Tigerwood instead. Doesn't quite look as nice, and is more expensive...but I guess that is life on a slab! Can you pls comment further on your sealer statement above. I plan on conducting a moisture test, but was planning on using a sealer anyway, just as an extra precaution. The BR111 installation instructions specifically mention approved sealers to use on concrete (prior to the appropriate adhesive). Franklin Titebond 531, Bostik MVP, Sika Primer, Dri Tack MC7000. Having said that, any recommendations on any of these approved brands for my application. Not too concerned about cost, as much as I am about quality, and ease of use/application for an amateaur. Thanks in advance, Larry

galleycook, Engineered floating wood floors is what you are looking for. This way you can have you wood floor and not have to worry about tiles pop. Below is an article about choosing your floating wood floors in our Blog. Hope this will help. "Choosing Quality Floating Wood Floors For your condo, basement, radiant heat floors You are just a few clicks away from a new Wood Floor for your home! We are talking about clicking together your brand new floating wood flooring. Floating wood floors are now installed on any hard surface with simple a click lock or tongue & groove system. All floating floors are bound to each other and not to the sub floor. This makes it possible to expand as one piece rather than individual boards. It's ideal for areas with higher humidity such as basements. Since floating wood floors will expand and contract as one unit, the chances of cupping or gapping between boards is greatly reduced, but be sure to leave space along the walls and cover them up with your baseboard as this allows for expansion. Unlike its counterpart, click lock floating wood floors are much easier to repair if a specific area is damaged. A great example is a dish washer flood. You would simply unclick the flooring up to the damaged area, then replace the damaged boards and reassemble. Another benefit is installing it directly over ceramic, tile, or any hard surface. Tearing out and disposing your old flooring is quite an extensive project in itself, but that's no longer necessary. Floating engineered wood floors have become more and more popular amongst home owners due to the simplicity of installation and stability in structure. Besides a few species, they also worked well with radiant heat systems and concrete basement sub floors. Floating engineered flooring is typically installed above the underlayment, a foam or cork material, which acts as a barrier to moisture and sound. European styled floating wood floors often have a 3-ply design with the top wear layer being hardwood, lumber middle core and balanced base veneer. When the floor has a 3 to 4 mm (1/8" to 3/16") wear layer, it is considered high quality for several reasons. First of all, the thick wear layer can be re-sanded and varnished a few times giving it the fresh new look as when you first installed it. Secondly, floating wood floors with a thick top layer prevents you from feeling the "bounce effect" while walking on it because it tends to sit on the sub floor firmly due to the weight of the hardwood. While most engineered floating wood floors are designed with a click & lock system, some can still be tongue & groove which requires edge glue. There are advantages to each design. Builders and Diyers enjoy the floating wood floors with click & lock system more due to the benefits of easy installation. Meanwhile, contractors could favor the tongue & groove floating wood floors more because they can be installed by nail-down and glue-down. Now you may be asking yourself. Why should I choose floating wood floors over laminate flooring which is just as easy to install and has the similar wood grains? Well floating wood flooring is real wood that offers all the advantages of real wood floors. The biggest advantage is that real hardwood is warmer on your feet. Like solid wood flooring, floating wood floors with thicker wear layer can also be refinished a few times. Remember the thicker the wear layer the more times you can refinish. Quality floating wood floors should last 40 to 50 years! Recap: � Not all the floating engineered wood floors are made equal. Total thickness and wear layer (top hardwood part) make a huge difference on the performance and life span of your installed floor. � All wood products will have some expansions and contractions during season change. � 1/8" or thicker wear layer and 1/2" and thicker total make wood floors with optimal floating weight. � European styled 3 ply floating wood floors provide good stability. � Make sure your sub-floor is leveled within 3/16" for every 10 sqft before installation. The most common cause of hollow sounds and noises are from low spots on your sub-floor. � A good 1/8" acoustical underlayment, such as Acousti-Cork or Floor Muffler, will improve your floating wood floor's performance and improve sound barrier quality. � The bigger area you are covering, the thicker floating floors it requires."

Thank you Annz. One of the installers called me back so he is the one I will use to install the floor. He is the middle of the price range and he told me he will take a break from the job he is on tomorrow to come by to let me know exactly what we need but from my description he feels I need 2 T-moldings (88" long and I need 4" more than this from my measurements for the two areas) and the reducer will not be good if the area is only a 1/8th difference. But he will see for sure and bring a floating pad and a 1/2" board. He also will let me know the exact number of reducers we will need since they are not returnable I just found out. He feels we have enough extra waste for the wood and he is very good at not wasting wood and is good at what he does. Hence, I guess I will wait for him to arrive tomorrow. Truehardwoods.com has been so patient with me and will give me a few more days (they have the order in the system but it is not yet sent to their distributor) to be sure about what I need as well as let me know which glue I ordered to allow me to change the wood glue to waterproof glue between the seams. Another installer just called me back and had no idea and that is not a good sign. So if the installer comes by tomorrow that called earlier, he has the job. I guess I better get back to my work and get a good night's sleep tonight and see what the installer has to stay that is stopping by tomorrow.

ajsmama, I think like you, I would have loved a wood like Bloodwood since the red color is what I wanted. If BR-111 sold Kempas, I may have went with it but I was afraid to go with Kempas after reading problems Hartco's milling had with it despite feeling it would be more red. In all since I like most of the pictures of Brazilian Cherry, I feel I will be happy once the floor is installed and the floor oxidizes to get the rich reddish colors. My allergies were bad all night and today which I feel is a combination of the wood outgassing through the boxes and the muggy weather outside which most likely is causing my mold and weed allergies to act up. I have not had allergies in awhile except for bad allergies so I stopped going for allergy shots. I may have to call a new local allergist (my other allergist is too far so I just keep putting off going) to continue my allergy shots since they had helped me so much and in August and September are my worst months. Hence, the wood in the family room, is probably to me like someone just painted the walls with a low VOC paint and I will be patient and wait for the outgassing to lessen. I am still excited about my floors but I have to finish some work before I can get back to emptying these rooms, paint the walls in the two room home office (the wood is being stored in the third room on the first floor which is open to the other rooms)and having my floors installed so I can post pictures of the beauty of the wood.