Laying a hardwood floor on a concrete slab?

Question

I would like to remove all carpeting and tile from the kitchen, dining room and den and replace it with hardwood floor. The house is on a concrete slab. I would like to learn to do this myself to save money. Where can I go to find step by step instructions for accomplishing this?

Answer 1

Pulling carpet isnt too hard, but you may run into some real elbow work removing tile, heheheh.

All of your large building supply chain stores offer classes...they want you to buy their product after all, heheh.

You can also look up the subject at the various television websites dedicated to this type of subject.

And last but not least... check the websites of the flooring manufacturer. Look under installation guides.

Now... since you are working with a concrete slab.... you will need to put down a vapor barrier, under your new flooring. NOTE... THIS IS NOT THE FOAM PAD typically found under laminate floors! Those foam pads are NOT vapor barriers. PERGO brand flooring, for example, REQUIRES a 6 mil plastic sheet to be placed UNDER the foam pad, on a concrete subfloor -- if ya don't...you void the warranty! (And the laminate floor WILL buckle, warp and bow, from moisture damage!)

Now, you mentioned using "hardwood" flooring...keep in mind this is a different animal than the currently popular "laminated" flooring. You can find hardwood flooring in the following versions:
Solid -- just what it says... it is a SOLID piece of hardwood... one piece of wood, all the way thru. These come in a range of sizes and species. MOST are unfinished.
Laminated (hardwood) -- There are a couple versions of this type....a popular version is the 3/4" thick, unfinished type. This consists of a piece of wood, made up of 3 layers. This is actually more stable than a solid hardwood piece. The major difference between this type and a solid hardwood piece, is that you can only sand up to about 1/4" off the surface.... thats not a problem for most situations. It's mainly the difference of a floor that lasts 50 years... and a floor that can last 100 years, provided there are no moisture problems... when installing over concrete subfloor, I recommend the layered hardwood, over the solid hardwood.
The other version of a laminated hardwood floor, is the "pre-finished" type... typically, this is about 3/8" thick...uses a plywood core/backer, and comes in a variety of sizes, colors, and species. Bruce is a good manufacturer of this type of flooring. This type of floor goes down fast, and being pre-finished, saves you all the labor involved with sanding, staining, and finishing a floor. This is an excellent type of floor for DIY.

Back to the concrete sub-floor .... no matter which type of floor you choose to put down... you NEED that vapor barrier... concrete is notorious for transferring moisture.... it's like a big straw. Anything you put down on top of it, needs to be protected from that moisture. If you were to go lay a metal tool out on the concrete.. you know where it would rust first? Not from being exposed to the elements, but rather, where it comes in contact with the concrete. Concrete pulls moisture thru itself, to the surface.
Of a necessity, this means that practically any flooring you put down, (other than tile) is going to need a vapor barrier, and is going to have to be a "floating" floor. This means that the flooring is glued to itself. "Tongue and Groove" gluing is the most common approach to this kind of floor.

Again, the chain stores offer classes, you can follow up on the subject at the HGTV, or other television websites, or hit up the manufacturers websites. Do LOTS of reading, before you start work, heheheh.

Have Fun!

Answer 2

Some of the hardwood-selling websites have directions. Basicly, over a concrete slab, you need to either put down a sub-floor to nail the hardwood into or you need to "float" the floor by gluing all the pieces together so that they form one big mat. Leave room around the edges to allow for expansion. Also, you should put down a foam underlayment of some sort to dampen the sound of the floor and allow for some flex as well as to block the moisture vapor that can come up from the slab.

Try this a starting place. Then search for more (because this site is not complete).
http://www.lumberliquidators.com/custserv/aboutus.jsp?pageName=Flooring101

Answer 3

Anywhere that sells the flooring should be able to provide you with instructions. Home Depot also regularly schedules home improvement courses that include flooring.

Answer 4

Home Depot has classes on how to do this installation. Find out when they hold classes. You can also look in how to books. Good luck.