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Solid wood on slab

4 years ago

hello,

we havent started building yet And we live in AL very close to Florida so we are going with a concrete slab. I want solid hardwood floors but I’ve read some people say you can’t... is this completely true? I’ve heard some people do it.. I really don’t like engineered hardwood and I’m okay with LVP if I absolutely have to...

thanks in advance!

Featured Answer

SJ McCarthy

4 years ago

The question is: Can it be done? Sigh...the answer is 'yes'. The question really should be: *Should it be done? The answer is "No."

Why not? Because the ways it can go wrong are more than the ways it can go right. The amount of money, effort, knowledge, skill, product choice (for the glue) and appropriate use for your location (sealants before the glue is put down) will all play a part.

To get this to work your HIGHLY SKILLED and MASSIVELY EXPENSIVE wood flooring professional will have to make sure EVERY SINGLE base is covered and then double covered for this to work. A wrong step at ANY POINT in the production and you have a ruined floor. No. I am not joking and I assure you I am not exaggerating. A single wrong step/choice/product and you have thousands of dollars and thousands of square feet of wet moldy wood flooring.

For all the heartache and money you pour into a project that has a massive chance of failure, you could have purchased a HIGH END engineered wood floor (as shown above) that can be floated and site finished.

Concrete slabs in areas with high water tables (like the Gulf states or the Mississippi flood plain) were the reason why man created floating engineered hardwoods in the first place. A properly prepared concrete slab (properly flat and ready to have rigid flooring installed over top) with great underlayment and a stunning high-end engineered floor installed can feel as solid as any glue down hardwood out there.

But it takes work to get it done. And that work comes with a price tag.

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Comments (6)

jmm1837
4 years ago
I'm not an expert, but I understand that engineered is more structurally stable than hardwood and therefore more suited to being laid on concrete.

When you say you don't like the look of engineered wood, are you sure you're not confusing it with laminate? Engineered wood, at least the decent quality stuff, has a wear layer of genuine hardwood on top of the ply base structure, so, it should be indistinguishable from hardwood once installed.
hannahburrr
Original Author
4 years ago
Gotcha. I’ve heard it’s because of moisture and such and that’s why you can’t use solid wood.

I like the look of engineered hardwood but the ones I’ve seen scratch so badly, I have four kids and we live in the Country.
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Veneered slab doors over cabinet grade partical board, MDF or plywood should be just fine. That's what you most commonly will find in most cabinet lines. Or solid wood pieced ones ones with battens on the rear would be fine, although subject to expansion and contraction more than the veneer. Solid wood slabs from pieces that are carefully matched with reversing graincan be fine, but those will be the most expensive and the most custom. I would not trust solid wood pieced doors from a production cabinet line unless they had battens on the rear to stabilize them. As with any wood, it will expand and contract in the presence of varying moisture levels. That may leave you with rubbing in summer and some gapping in winter. If you've owned homes with wood floors, you'll be familiar with the syndrome. If you want to minimize these issues, your best bet is to run a humdifier in the winter and always use your AC in the summer.
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We're building a vacation home in the foothills of southern Virginia. While shopping for cabinetry, I've been told that a solid wood slab door is a bad idea (as is solid wood flooring) because of the seasonal temperature variations experienced by an unoccupied home (to save on energy costs, we will certainly keep heating and cooling to a minimum during our absences). Does anyone here know if this a valid concern both for cabinetry as well as solid wood flooring? Would we truly be better off with wood veneer as I've been hearing? Thanks in advance for your feedback!
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User
4 years ago
No solid wood on concrete. Ever. Engineered only. It doesn’t scratch any worse than solid. If you buy a quality brand rather than the $5 junk at Lumber Liquidators, then it is indistinguishable from solid.
PRO
Oak & Broad
4 years ago
hannahburrr , dont do it. There is no reason to! Use the highest quality Engineered flooring you can find. An American made produce with at least a 4mm wear layer can be glued down and finished in place like a solid floor .
Educational Plank Flooring Examples · More Info
PRO
G & S Floor Service
4 years ago
As Sj mentioned, it can be done with a highly skilled installer. Repairs would need to be done to your slab, the slab needs to be sealed, along with your walls. All the products you use needs to act as a moisture barrier. And you will need to install a humidifier. The slab will dry out your solid hardwood, so expect to have gaps.

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