Installing Hardwood Floors On Concrete Subfloor

If your concrete subfloor was just poured you ll need to allow it to properly cure for a minimum of 60 days before your luxury vinyl flooring installation begins.

Installing hardwood floors on concrete subfloor.

Concrete is a common subfloor material and in general it s easy to prepare for a luxury vinyl flooring installation project. For a concrete subfloor you should install the plank with the sight lines of the floor. You need to fill any large cracks and be sure that the entire floor is level. Old basement slabs can crack and buckle in places.

Read manufacturer s directions before installation to maintain warranty coverage. The key to a beautiful long lasting hardwood or laminate floor is a well prepared subfloor. Measure and mark the center of all four walls at floor level. Before you install your plywood subfloor first calculate the room s square footage to find out how much flooring you ll need to buy.

When installing a basement hardwood floor the concrete must be flat so the tongue and grooves of the hardwood meet and connect. It s best to use shorter cleats than you would for a wood floor to ensure they sink in all the way. Get a comprehensive breakdown on which materials to use what to take into consideration and what steps to take for four subfloor systems. Then vacuum the floor with a wet dry vac or sweep it with a broom.

Typical sight lines run parallel to the longest wall but each home is different. Learn how to install beautiful hardwood floors over a concrete slab. Determining moisture content of both the wood flooring and the subfloor is an important part of quality control in the flooring installation process. Before you install file flooring follow the directions above for fixing high spots and low spots in a wood or concrete subfloor.

Installing hardwood flooring on a plywood covered slab is identical to installing it on a wood subfloor. You simply nail the boards with a flooring nailer. Test for dryness new concrete is heavy with moisture and it must be a minimum of 30 days old before moisture testing begins. Slabs less than 60 days old are generally too wet to install floors.

Make a final check with the level to be sure all the high and low spots are gone.