I would like to install hard wood floors, over cement floors.?

Question

I would like to replace my carpet with a real hard wood floor., but my floor under the carpet is cement. Can any one give me advise as to how I go about this. want to do it myself.

Answer 1

Real hardwood installed on concrete must be glued. It is necessary though, to use a 5/16", 3/8", or 1/2" solid hardwood instead of a traditional 3/4". Use a moisture cured urethane glue and allow 1/4"-1/2" gap around the perimeter for expansion. If the floor is below-grade, no flooring manufacturer will warranty the use of solid hardwood, so an engineered hardwood must be used. Engineered hardwood is NOT laminate. It is a 3, 5, or 7 ply hardwood usually with a factory finish. Once engineered hardwood is installed it is impossible to tell it from a solid. The only disadvantage is that engineered hardwood can only be refinished once or twice. If you do this job yourself it's probably a good idea to look at a book or website to get a little more insight on what the job involves, then go for it.

Answer 2

OK first of all I would suggest that you take a weekend clinic offered at Loews or Home Depot first. They are really good at explaining techniques and showing how things get done. Once that is done I suggest you rent a sander to sand down the cement floor as much as you can. Sweep it, mop it. Then add a cement sealer to seal any cracks you might have. You don't want to have any cracks otherwise it will make you floor look really uneven. It is very hard labor. Get some friends to help out. But please take the class first. It will answer a lot of your questions you might have regarding the process.

Answer 3

My husband said to prep clean floor and then glue wood or ask home depot about floating wood floors.

Answer 4

always install a vapor barrier when installing any flooring ontop of cement otherwise on humid or damp ays you will shave wet and damaged hardwood floors

Answer 5

If this is a below grade (basement) room, then "real" hardwood is not recomended. You can use engineered hardwood, like laminate, provided you use the correct covering (dry core, for one) on the concrete and foam backing and then the flooring.

Answer 6

get a chisl and engrave wood grain all over yer house then paint it brown! try to use a natural looking brown tooo or theres a chance it wont look that natural. be careful of yer phingers!!!

Answer 7

Sounds cool to me.