float or nail engineered hardwood or bamboo over another floor?

3 years ago

I need to replace a floor in one bedroom of my house. I live in South Florida, and the floor is currently a glued down engineered hardwood floor over terazzo. the rest of the house floor is about an inch above this floor so I was hoping to either float or nail down a new bamboo or engineered floor over this floor. I've had a few people tell me that this is ok, and a few people tell me that its not ok. I'm so confused. I don't want to spend a ton of money on this project-already doing too many other things. Can I lay a new floor over the engineered? Also, there is one area by the sliding door that the wood had some water damage, and the veneer is pulling up, so I was thinking maybe I need to repair those spots first? cut it out and add some other plywood or planks? I considered Vinyl planks too, but ive heard that those don't do well in the sun and this room gets direct beams of sun for multiple hours a day. I hope to get some insight on here.

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Comments (7)

SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
A new floor can only be installed over ONE existing floor. The terrazzo is floor #1, the engineered is floor #2.

Just rip up the wood and work with your new floor. If you put down a new floor over these other two, you will lose all warranty and you will cause issues with DOOR CLEARANCE. Yah...check to see how much room you have between the bottom of the door and the engineered hardwood. And now look at the transition you will create in the doorway. The floor height variation will be big.

You have water damage on the wood. If you put something over top you will create an anaerobic condition that will allow bacteria and mold grow into a lovely germ soup. We've seen it before. And if you put down a floor on top of water damaged wood over a terrazzo floor you will see it and smell it too.

Ask yourself how much you look forward to REDOING this project in 1-2 years?
Jill Daniels
Original Author
3 years ago
@SJ McCarthy one of the issues in my house is that there are layers of tile in other areas, so the majority of the house is an inch higher than this room. Im currently getting new doors, so doors and room transitions aren't an issue, in fact, id like to raise this floor up at least a half inch to an inch to be closer to the hallway. The water damage happened a few years ago when I had someone cleaning my windows every couple of weeks and they were hosing the window-the area has been dry for a couple of years, but there is an area of about 6 inches deep that needs to be either taken out or sanded down to be smooth (or maybe there is an underlayment I can use-not sure). I realize that the ideal way to do this would be to remove all of the old floor and lay new plywood on top of the terrazzo, and then add the new floor to make it level with the rest of the house, but that is out of my budget. SO... i'm wondering if I can use this old floor which is plywood and veneer, as a base for the new floor. Could I float a floor or nail it down to this floor?

How would mold grow under there if the floor has been dry for a couple of years?
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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.
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In one word: Cork. Cork can be found in a floating floor plank. It comes in thicknesses between 10mm and 15mm (10.5mm - 12mm is common). I would figure out how HIGH the carpet stood and how much clearance the door has and work with those numbers. For instance, if your door has a snick more than 3/4" clearance, I would find a 10.5 or 11mm thick cork floating plank (7/16") and ADD 6mm cork underlayment (1/4") so that the TOTAL floor height is roughly 3/4" tall. Do that for ALL areas. I would then go ahead and add (so long as the cork allows it) a coat or two of protective finish like Loba 2K Supra AT. This coating adds SCRATCH resistance AND slip resistance (it has some of the best anti-slip ratings on the market). It ALSO adds moisture resistance...such as when a leaking pet (or human...spills happen) accidently loses control, the finish on top will prevent permanent damage to the planks. The cork will mimic the carpet absorption. Not quite perfect but very very close. You will still hear the deep thud of HARD footsteps (like thumping out of bed in a huff...whhhhhhaaaaaaat???Teenage girls NEVER do THAAAT ;-P www.icorkfloor.com Have a look. It can't hurt. If nothing else, it gives you a GREAT place to purchase 6mm or 12mm cork underlay for laminate. LVP does NOT like underpad. LVP will mimic what you hear RIGHT NOW. It doesn't like underpad. So much so that most Condo boards do NOT allow LVP in living areas because of noise complaints.
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So long as the subfloor is reasonably flat the cork will do all the flexing you need. As a cork expert, I've used 6mm cork underlay to "eat" 1-2mm worth of variation. Because cork is solid but not rigid, it will do a little bit of correction for you. Besides, if you glue down the floor you have to glue down the cork and that takes +++glue. We call it a double stick. It can add up to $2/sf just for the glue. And you can't lay the hardwood if the cork is still damp from the glue. If you float the flooring you float the cork. Simply lay the cork sheets PERPENDICULAR to the direction the floor will run. Like most things in the building world, it always makes sense to 'off-set' your layers. If you would do it with plywood sheeting you might as well continue with the cork. It takes 30 seconds to determine the direction of the hardwood. You simply run the cork in the other direction. The issue won't be the cork or the glue. It will be the width of the planks. Those wide planks will move more than you ever thought possible. Regardless of the structure of he plank, the wide planks will be MUCH more unstable than a narrow plank. That's why the home's HVAC system should be investigated and upgraded - if needed. You MUST keep the indoor humidity stable between 45%-55%. If your current system does NOT have that capability I suggest you take that $2/sf savings on the glue and use it to invest in a whole home upgrade.
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PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
3 years ago
Rip 'em all out and refinish the terrazzo please. It's the best floor of all.
jillcdaniels
3 years ago
It’s not nice terrazzo and it would be about an inch and a half below the hallway.
SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
So here is what you are doing: you are slowing reducing your ceiling height (which is a selling point = higher ceilings = higher value in the home) with each layer of flooring.

Just because SOMEONE else has made poor flooring decisions (made because they didn't have the budget to do it properly) doesn't mean you need to follow suit.

Each layer you put down is another layer you will HAVE to pull out. It has to come out SOMETIME!!!! You can purchase new doors and new trim and new counter tops and new outside doors and new siding...etc...

OR you can do the 'right thing' and get rid of the HORRIBLE flooring set up. You will pay for it today...or you will pay DOUBLE tomorrow.

If you INSIST on doing this...then use the LOWEST priced flooring on the market = $0.79sf laminate and float the darn thing! Don't put down ANYTHING of value....NOTHING! Don't throw a 'medium' amount of money at this situation so that you can save a tiny amount today.

You WILL PAY MORE. And remember: anything 'man made' (vinyl or bamboo) will NOT BE available 12 months from now. Which means you will NEVER match what is in that room.

And that means it is a WASTE OF MONEY!

If you must waste money (and you will be) you really should waste as LITTLE as possible. Find a nasty laminate and throw it down. You will rip it out in 7-10 years anyway.

And no....don't trim your doors. It is the WRONG PLACE to put your money. Again = TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY!

It's your call. How much money do you WANT to waste? That's what you need to ask yourself. IF you say, "Waste money? None! I never want to waste it! I can't afford it!" then you need to leave the flooring situation alone and start REMOVING the cr@ppy floors you have in the house and start saving for a REAL solution.
Jill Daniels
Original Author
3 years ago
@SJ McCarthy Im not ripping all of my floors out, maybe one day, but I cant now. My kitchen is on this floor, my doorways are ALL leveled with this floor! Even if I ripped it all out, id have to bring it up to make all of these doorways normal, so I need that ONE floor to be taller.
SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
OK. Your money. Your house.

I advise you spend VERY little to do it. That means a floating laminate.

Anything more and you are flushing money down the toilet.

Good luck. I hope you get more than 7years out of it.

float or nail engineered hardwood or bamboo over another floor?

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SJ McCarthy

Jill Daniels
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float or nail engineered hardwood or bamboo over another floor?

Comments (7)

SJ McCarthy

Jill DanielsOriginal Author

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Joseph Corlett, LLC

jillcdaniels

SJ McCarthy

Jill DanielsOriginal Author

SJ McCarthy

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Jill Daniels
Original Author

Jill Daniels
Original Author