Installing Hardwood Laminate On Concrete

Many types of flooring can be installed over a concrete sub floor.

Installing hardwood laminate on concrete.

The surface can t be slick heavily troweled or burnished. Experienced professionals pay close attention to managing moisture and minimizing wood floor expansion and contraction when preparing to install hardwood floors on concrete slabs. When installing a floating laminate floor you don t need to use any adhesive nails or staples. For starters while you can consider solid hardwood for at and above grade installations only engineered flooring with its plywoodlike construction is suitable below.

The fact that your home is built on a concrete slabs does not preclude installing hardwood floors but several considerations apply not least of which is subfloor preparation. Installing laminate flooring on concrete steps. Slide the first two rows into their final position and repeat steps 5 and 6 above using the same alternating plank technique to complete the process. Laminate is a budget friendly attractive alternative to hardwood flooring.

If you are installing a locking or floating floor not attached to the subfloor just make sure that the subfloor is clean. If you ve got concrete stairs to cover the laminate must be glued down using high quality construction glue. Treated plywood to the concrete with concrete screws spaced every 16 in. Laminate flooring is a good alternative to wood flooring in basements.

Alternatively screw rows of treated 1x4s to the concrete 16 in. Laminate planks snap together and float above a subfloor which means tiny subfloor imperfections are okay although again a level subfloor will help prevent damage. Laminate flooring is also fairly easy to install. As needed use a concrete grinder you may want to rent one to remove any coating and to slightly roughen the concrete surface so the adhesive will stick.

Installing a hardwood floor over a concrete slab even if your home was built on a concrete slab you can still enjoy the beauty and charm of hardwood floors. Your baseboards will need to be taken out as well to ensure the new flooring has no gaps around the edges of the walls. To level a subfloor for installing laminate follow the directions above to remove high and low spots. Then nail the flooring planks with a standard flooring nailer see photo for details.

However many homeowners are disappointed to discover that solid wood flooring cannot be installed on a concrete slab. Padding can be used with most floating laminate floor installation.