The Flooring Expert

Q: What type of flooring goes over cement subfloors?

A: There are several floors you can put over a cement subfloor. Floors that can be installed as a floating floor are your best bet for installing over concrete floors. You can also install most floors which are suitable for a glue-down installation over concrete, such as 5/16” solid hardwood products from Bruce and Westhollow. You can also look at glue-down Bamboo and Cork flooring.

I will caution you that glue-down floors are very difficult to install and I do NOT recommend this as a DIY project. If there is a floor you really want to install that can't be floated and is suitable for a glue-down install, contact a professional to have this installed. When installing over concrete, especially in basements, I would suggest a floating floor, such as laminate, engineered bamboo and hardwoods, or cork flooring. Also, make sure you use a vapor barrier along with your underlayment when floating a floor over concrete.

Always ensure the floor you choose is approved to be installed over concrete by the manufacturer and ensure the installation is done up to the manufacturer's standards to ensure you keep your warranty.

Q: When I lay out the first row of flooring I end up with a 1.5 inch cut off. Would I be better off to cut a board in half to start the row, so I end up with random lengths at each end of the room?

A: The short answer to this is “Yes.” Let's examine this a bit further though to explain why you don't want such a short piece at the end of a row. I will mention as a preface, that it will matter what type of installation is being done. For floating and nail/staple-down floors you will want to have a longer section at the ends of each rows. For nailed/stapled floors you should not nail or staple closer than 4 inches the the end of a board. The reason behind this is that if you nail or staple that close to the end of a board you run risk of cracking the tongue-- so ideally you will want 8 inch to 1 foot sections or longer at the end of your floor.

For floating floors, the lock mechanisms require certain distances to maintain enough pressure. This means that similar to nailed hardwoods, you will want to have a plank length of 8 inches to 1 foot or more at the ends of each row to ensure proper locking power is maintained and the floor will remain intact.

With glue-down floors this can be different, but ideally you will want to remain to the same practice. An end piece that is 1.5 inches is not a wise idea as this will be unstable and could cause issues later on regardless of the floor installed.

Q: I have removed my existing ceramic tile. How smooth does the floor have to be to install a laminate wood floor? Does all the thinset have to be removed, because I have some areas that are slightly uneven. Also when taking up the tile with a chipping hammer I did have some of the concrete floor chip up. Does this need to be patched? If so what do you recommend? Thank you

A: When removing any existing floor, especially tile or glued down floors, it is recommended to make your subfloor as flat as possible. When it comes to a subfloor, there are three things your subfloor should be: clean, flat and dry.

This being said, it will be a task to remove all of the thinset, but in the end it will be much better for your new laminate. Now should you chip into the concrete don't worry. You will want to use a self leveling compound. These are easy to get from any local home store. When mixing the compound make sure not to add too much water to this mix, as it can be a common problem where too much water is added and the compound won't cure properly.

Give the self leveler plenty of time to cure and follow all instructions. This can also be used in areas where your subfloor may be uneven to help make the floor easy to install on. Afterward, take your time to install your new floor and enjoy having a beautiful new laminate floor.

Q: I am doing a 16x16 foot room with laminate. I will be putting floor-to-ceiling bookcases on 3 of the 4 walls, and an entertainment center on the 4th wall.

Tom D.

A: Any time you are installing any floating floor, such as the laminate in this case, its it important to keep in mind that very heavy or large pieces of furniture, such as floor to ceiling book cases, cabinets, or entertainment centers built into the floors or walls, should not go on top of the flooring.

The short answer to this is, build your book cases first, then install your floor once your ready. The reason behind this is that the bookcases (or similarly heavy furniture) can cause the floor to have too much weight rest on one edge, and thusly will tilt or lift the floor. I have seen an issue where this occurred after installing a floating bamboo floor from Springwood in a remodeled kitchen. The cabinets were installed over the top of the floor, causing the floor to lift.

Good luck with your project!

Q: We are planning on a new solid hardwood floor. In order to eliminate a height difference between rooms the new hardwood will be installed over a new sub floor (13/16") on top of the existing plywood. We "live on the water", in southwestern Ontario. There is a heated/AC crawl space under this floor. During the winter the house is empty, with the heat set at approx:55 degrees.

Jack

A: First of all I suggest using an engineered product. Engineered products are naturally far more stable, and the more plies the better. Stability is key when trying to combat movement in your floor. Wood being a natural product will expand and contract due to temperature and moisture which can cause nasty things like buckling, gapping or warping when proper expansion room and installation procedure is not observed. Bellefloor is an excellent example of a great engineered product that would be great for your project and will still look and feel great. Also, engineered floors are more common in wide plank appearance.

Movement will occur because of the air flow with your crawl space, but more importantly because of the temperature you leave your home at during the winter. This is an issues referred to as “Empty House Syndrome” (don't get this confused with Empty Nest Syndrome, Empty House Syndrome is a flooring term), but basically when people leave a home for a specific season, and leave the home at lower temperature to save on bills, this temperature change causes the floor to contract and buckle. Your best protective measure will be to keep you home around 62 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit. In regards to the crawl space the Wood Flooring Manufacturer's Association states:

NOFMA recommends that a crawlspace be kept dry. Water, mud or excessively damp earth should not be present. A good ground cover (6-mil poly or equivalent) over 100% of the crawlspace earth should be installed as an effective moisture barrier, and good cross ventilation should be present.

Now if using a solid product is your only choice, I would suggest that you use a hand scrapped to hide the movement that will occur. Mullican makes some great solid hand scrapped products which could fit this project. You can also consider Somerset's Hand Scrapped Collection. My best suggestion to help avoid cupping or warping would be to follow a few precautions.

Initially, give the wood plenty of time to acclimate. Normally acclimation is done for 3 days to a week, but in this case, make sure the wood is in the room and is allowed to acclimate for upwards of a month. Sounds like a long time I know, but it will help to ensure the wood is accustomed to the area it will be installed. Keep your indoor temperature controlled for the same temperature all year long (low to mid 60s Fahrenheit being your best bet). Ensure your crawlspace has proper moisture protection and ventilation. Going ahead with the installation use 15 lb roofing felt instead of resin paper. Specs call out for gluing and nailing 5" and wider boards, Large tubes of construction mastic, just a lazy "S" down the board or on the subfloor then set and nail, I would use 2" cleats when nailing down the solid.

Q: Can you put a laminate floor over carpet?

Abohanna

A: This is a pretty common question. The answer is "no," but lets get into a deeper explanation of why. Although laminate is installed using the floating method, which allows the floor to be installed over the top of a subfloor without anchoring to the subfloor, carpet is not a suitable substrate. I have frequently had the question of "will carpet padding work as underlayment?" with customers who have called in to our call center here at iFLOOR. This is again an answer of "no." Due to how carpet and carpet padding are made, they are too soft to work as a suitable underlayment for floating floors. Simply put, they are not dense enough to fit floating installation specs.

End result, to install a beautiful new laminate floor into your home, you will need to remove the carpet, carpet padding and tack strip in order to get a clean subfloor, then you can install your underlayment (I'm a big fan of 3mm cork) and then install your laminate.

As a side note, there are a few hard surfaces you can install over using floating installations. Pre-existing hardwood floors, tile, vinyl and linoleum all can act as suitable substrates as long as you use a good underlayment (Sound 6 or cork being the preference here). In the case of tile, its suggested to level out the grout lines with the tile itself as best you can to ensure your floor will lie nice and flat and reduce possibility of issue.

Q: What is the best way to remove the thinset?

T&B Flemming

A: There are several methods to removing thinset. You can use a grinder to grind the thinset down, use a hammer and wide chisel to chisel this away or get a machine chisel. Go with the automatic chisel to remove your thinset. This will be a strenuous process, but its the fastest and easiest way of the three.

Go to a local tool rental place and rent an electric chipper with a 4-inch (or wider) chisel tip. A good example is the Hilti TE505 and these on average can be rented for around $40 per day. These devices resemble a jack hammer, but the advantage is they will not destroy your concrete subfloor.

Keep in mind, these things are big, heavy and loud. This being said, wear eye and ear protection and take breaks to give your hands and back a rest, cause you may regret it otherwise. Also, be prepared to stop and vacuum up debris and dust because this will be somewhat messy.

Start by holding the chipper at about 30 degrees off of the vertical (hold at a 60 degree angle) and let the machine shake the chisel against the thinset. This will break up larger chunks. You will want to do one pass like this to remove a good portion of the thinset. Then go back across the remaining thinset holding the machine at a slightly shallower angle and press down hard on the forward handle (usually your left hand) and use your opposite leg (usually your right) to hold the machine steady. This will smooth out the surface and remove the remainder of the thinset. Remember this will be tough and can be somewhat hard to control at first, so be prepared.

Q: Hello. I am ordering hardwood from iFloor that I intend to install myself, as I have some hardwood flooring experience. To obtain a finished look in the entrance area, I would like to replace the carpeting on our stairs with matching hardwood. There’s nothing “special” or unique about our stairs, but this is something I have never done. Regardless, I am confident that I can do this with the right know how. That’s where you come in. If this works for you, I’ll tell you what I know and maybe you can fill in some gaps, point out possible pitfalls, and give me any pointers that you feel will help the job come out well.

Tim
Cambridge, NY

A: Tim there is very little I'll need to help you on because you are already well informed. I'll admit I am a big fan of the white riser look to accent the treads on a set of hardwood stairs. After getting all of the carpet removed and cutting your stairs to be flush. You will need to be very precise with your cuts for the wood for the tread, so take your time.

I will admit, I prefer using solid stair treads over flooring and nosing (the links I am using are bamboo, but they serve as great visual examples); however, if you can't get solid treads don't be surprised if there is a slight difference in color between the nosing and the floor. This will be much like trim pieces where they will match as close as possible, but the wood used for trim tends to come from different portions of the tree than flooring, which will have a slight difference in appearance. Using a paint-grade poplar is a great idea and I would suggest going that route.

When installing the stairs, you should be using glue to install your treads and then nailing the along the scribe line at the back of the tread. A scribe line is a line used to mark the extent that the riser will cover the tread. This answers your other question, always install tread, then riser. This gives a clean professional look.

You will want to take time to rack out each stair, cutting the last plank in the tread that will go under the riser. This will allow you to easily install. After doing your cuts, lay out each tread and make sure they fit well. You'll then be ready to get to the install. Use a urethane based mastic adhesive to glue the treads in place. Spread the adhesive per the instructions from the manufacturer across the base of the stair then lay the tread into place. Start from the back riser and put each piece in place up to the nosing. Take extra caution not to get any adhesive on your fingers, this stuff will be messy and you don't want this to be on your treads. Once everything is in place, you must make sure the nose is snug and use a pull bar to ensure the boards are pulled tightly together. Remember to allow plenty of time for each tread to cure.

You will be gluing the riser in place as well and using a spread across the back of the riser. Remember to paint before hand, I know its obvious, but getting paint on those nice new treads would be terrible. I think this should cover all of your needs for putting in your stairs, but just as some extra help I have a picture that John R., one of our content designers, found to show a similar stair style to what you are going for. Notice in the image you can tell the tread goes beyond the riser, indicating that the riser was installed after the tread. Did I mention I really like this look?

Reply: I am very grateful for your detailed reply. That was a big help to me, and underscores the major reason why I placed my order with iFloor. It always eases my mind before going into the unknown to know that I know something about what’s unknown. Or at least to know someone who does. You know?

Thanks again, and take care,
-Tim

A: I'm glad we could help you so far Tim and that's why we're here, to help people make informed decisions in regards to flooring. Our CEO, Steve Simonson, is huge on education (as you well know if you read Steve's blog), so I am proud to be helping you out. Now, let's get back to the help part:

For the poplar I would say this is really based on how you want your stairs to look. My honest suggestion would be to measure the space between where you will add your risers and how the stair nosing will sit to get an idea of what you need. Honestly this will be fairly thin, but get a width that in the end will give you the look you want.

You will be using the same adhesive and will be applying to the back of the riser then install the riser. How long you need to wait is based on the adhesive you use. I would say always observe the instructions given by a manufacturer, especially with adhesives, but this is normally around 8 to 12 hours. Basically put, over night your stairs should cure enough to walk on without worry, but make sure to consult your adhesive's manufacturer's suggestions.

In regards to cutting, I have a few tips from Sean H., who used to work with custom molding before joining the team here at iFLOOR. If your using a circular saw, make sure to use a blade designed for ripping with a lot of teeth. The more the better. The same philosophy applies for a jig saw. Now, when cutting, you want the impact of the blade occurs on the back side of the flooring. So if your using a circular or miter saw have the face of the floor up, for jig or table saw, have the floor face down. Another great tip from Sean, is to use some tape along where you are going to cut (pretty sure masking tape will be a great bet) to reduce the amount of blow out you get when making your cuts.

I really looking forward to hearing back from you on your project Tim and good luck!

Q: I am trying to find where I can purchase wood flooring with insets of tile. A friend's home at Marriott's resort in Hemet, CA has this in her hallway and it's gorgeous.

Glenna S.
Brea, CA 92821

A: Glenna this style of flooring has become popular in recent years as a great way to mix two forms of beautiful hard surface flooring. This is actually achieved through installation, and not through a pre-built product. I had a great conversation with Ryan W., our product specialist, about this in regards to some of the techniques used to accomplish this and to confirm my own suspicions that a product is not manufactured to get this great appearance. (If you find out about one please let me know!)

When your floor is to be installed, you will frame out, think like picture frames, the area where you will put in the tiles. This will be done first in order to map out how you wish the tile to appear on your floor. After laying out the frames using planks of the flooring, you will then lay the rest of your floor normally, making your cuts to account for the frames. Once the flooring is complete, user a bit of painters tape (or something similar) to mask off the edges of your frames to protect the flooring from grout or damage. Now just install the tile as you would normally. Once the tile is installed, remove the tape and let the grout cure and you now have a beautiful mix of tile and hardwood flooring. You can also insert other similar hard surface flooring items like mosaics or tempered glass for other really cool looks.

Ryan also mentioned that in many homes, inserting tile is a great way to protect a hardwood floor in something like a dining room, putting tile in the areas where the chairs are moved around or under the table instead of using an area rug. This not only can give your dining room a great look but protect the wood flooring as well by keeping heavy furniture off of the floor.

With the proper application of this technique and some product coordination you can achieve a truly phenomenal look.

Q: When installing floating Bamboo flooring over uneven concrete (Old tile mortar and slightly uneven) What would be the best material to use underneath?

A: When installing a floating floor over old tile or just remaining mortar, it is always suggested to make this floor as flat as possible. Now, if you still have the tile laid down and your worried about grout lines, you should have little issue as long as you use a vapor barrier and a good underlayment. I would suggest using 6mm cork or 3mm cork at a minimum.

If you have removed the tile and have only the mortar remaining you must grind this down. Similar to the discussion on removing thinset, Try using an electric chipper or a grinder. This will be dusty, so wear eye protection and a dust mask. Remember with any floor, it is important to have the subfloor clean, dry and flat.

After you have prepared your subfloor, I would still suggest using a 3mm cork underlayment for your floor. Cork is dense, so it will provide a better feel under foot, and its natural sound dampening and insulation qualities will be great. Good luck!

As a special treat after coming back from his vacation, iFLOOR.com's CEO, Steve Simonson, forwarded this great email to me to post in our blog as a post Memorial Day extra.
Q: Good morning, Steve,

Peter

A: Mmm...

This is a tough one.

First from the photo I couldn't really tell what the floor was made of. (it almost seemed like linoleum from the view I saw.)

If you are going to do cork in a boat - you should use the 12x12 glue down style and put a ton of finish on the top of it. It will work well. (like the last stuff you had)

I hope this is helpful to you.

ss

As promised here is the photo for this boat

Q: After pulling up the carpeting in my living room, I found red oak hardwood floors. However, they're 40 years old, and in poor condition due to water and pet stains. I was considering having them refinished, but due to logistics problems (where to put the furniture, where to live while the work is being done, etc) I think a prefinished hardwood floor would be an excellent alternative. Aesthetically, I would need to run the strips in the same direction as the current floor. I was told that it's not a good idea to nail the new flooring to flooring running in the same direction. Would it be a better idea to rip up the current floor and nail the new floor to the subfloor? How difficult would that be? Would the bumps left from the nail holes be a problem?

Mike P.

A: Nailing a new hardwood floor in the same direction of a pre-existing hardwood floor is a bad idea. The major reason behind this is a matter of stability. In this case, if you are unwilling to take the time to repair and refinish the original floor (which I would not suggest based on your mentioning of water damage) you will want to remove the existing hardwood floor and replace it with a new floor.

The pre-existing nails should be no issue after removal, although I would heavily suggest hiring a professional for this project as removing a pre-existing nailed down floor can be tedious and will take a few days. Once the old floor is removed, you will need to examine the subfloor below, check for areas where you may need to screw down areas to reduce squeaking. Afterward you can then install your new floor.

As I said before, I would suggest consulting a professional for this project, but if you take plenty of time this can be a good DIY project (although it might be a bit strenuous).

Q: Does the padding for floating floor have to lay on floor for 48 hrs before u can lay the laminate floors?

Margie

A: For floating floors there is no need to let the underlayment sit before installing the floor. However, it is important to know that after a floor is installed (and make sure to acclimate it before installing it) your floor will go through a secondary acclimation process as it adjusts to the area it has been installed in. So, you may want to let your newly installed floor sit for that 2 day period before placing furniture over it.

Enjoy your new floor and good luck with your install!

Q: Gluing wide boards makes sense, but is it effective if you have a layer of felt between the sub-floor and finished floor?

Jason S.

A: When gluing a floor you will need to glue the planks directly to the subfloor. The felt being used should be removed before gluing your floor down. If this is a wood subfloor, I would honestly suggest nailing or stapling the floor as these are far easier installation compared to gluing.

With a glue-down installation, you have much more to consider than nailing. You have to take much more time to allow the glue to cure and to ventilate out the vapors from the glue. You can only install so much flooring at a time with glue in order to ensure the glue cures properly. There is a certain depth of glue you must spread and a specific trowel size that must be used when applying the glue to your subfloor (usually 1/8" square-notched trowel). Proper amounts of ambient humidity (30-50%) and heat (62-65 degrees Fahrenheit) must also be observed to ensure the glue will dry properly and form a solid bond. There is more that must be done, but this should give you an idea as to the amount of work involved in gluing a floor and that doesn't include clean up afterward because glue is messy.

Felt paper is normally in place to make it easier to slide boards into place and to help reduce some of the potential squeaking noise that can come with having a wood floor, but in the case of glue the paper will actually ruin your installation. The reason why you need to remove the felt is th ensure the glue forms a proper bond between the flooring and subfloor, thus anchoring the floor in place. If you were to glue the floor to the felt it would not form a proper bond and the flooring would be able to move, which can cause a multitude of issues. As I mentioned with the depth of glue required, this depth will not be properly achieved with the felt in place, which brings even more headache.

Long story short - if you intend to glue down your floor, do not use felt paper or any other underlayment, glue the planks directly to the subfloor.

Q: I want to remove the carpet on my stairs and install hardwood planks. Is there a way to install them without leaving nail indentations on the planks. I am also looking for instructions on installing the hardwood plank stairs. Any information you can give will be greatly appreciated.

A: When your installing a nail or staple-down floor, you will only top nail the first and last rows. To cover the indentations created, you will want to use a color matching floor putty. All of your other rows of flooring will be nailed at a 45 degree angle through the top of the tongue. Below is a link to our guide on nail-down installations which includes a great video that we worked with Westhollow to make.

Nail-down Installation Page

In regards to your stairs you will be gluing the planks and nosing in place, not nailing. You will use some nails to anchor the last row, but this nailing should be done behind the scribe line. Your scribe line marks the extent of what you riser will cover. Here's a quick break down for installing hardwood stairs:

1. Make sure you remove all debris from the stairs, this includes drywall mud or paint that may have ended up on the stairs under your carpet.
2. Ensure your stair's nosing is flush with the riser before installing your new hardwood. This may involve some cuts.
3. Measure for cuts, as they need to be exact.
4. Start with the nosing first and then work back with your planks to the riser. At first, just lay the wood out to make sure your cuts were done properly. Pull the planks together tightly and ensure the nosing is snug against the riser of the next stair.
5. For your installation, start at the bottom of your stairs and work to the top.
6. After mocking up the tread portion and riser for each store, then begin with the nosing and glue along the back of the tread portion in an s-curving fashion. Put the nosing into place and then lay the planks, gluing in similar curving fashion. You can also spread an adhesive using a trowel along the tread of the stair, then lay the nosing and planks. Ensure to make the nosing snug and pull the planks together tightly.
7. Nail along the last row behind the scribe line, but not too close to the back of the plank as this can cause cracking.
8. After installing the tread, install the risers, these should be glued into place.
9. Give the stairs plenty of time to cure before walking over them.
10. Install any transitions you may need at the top of your stairs and your done.

Q: Can I lay marble tile on a slate slab that is fairly flat?

Rick

A: You can install marble tile over a slate slab, but you will need to use an uncoupling product. Gene D., one of the guys here at iFLOOR.com that works with very large commercial jobs, suggested using the uncoupling products made by Ditra of Unimat. He specifically suggested Schluter®-DITRA. After that, just make sure you follow all instruction guidelines from the manufacturer and you should be ok. Good luck!

By request from a few co-workers, I'm going to put a brief summary here as to why you want to use an uncoupling product.

When using an uncoupling layer between a solid surface, such as slate or concrete, and the tile surface to be laid. This process has actually been done for thousands of years. The uncoupling layer neutralizes the differential movement stresses between the substrate and the tile. The rib structure of the uncoupling product allows for in-plane movement, which is why it neutralizes differential movement. These stresses when neutralized prevent what cause a majority of cracking and delamination in the tile surface.

Q: I am remodeling the garage into a family room. The laminate that has the backing on it already, does it still require the moisture barrier first? The concrete floor surface is above ground level.

Danni

A: The backing on laminate floors is not designed to prevent moisture vapor from entering your floor. In short – yes, you must have a vapor barrier when installing over concrete.

The backing boards added to laminate are built for stability and not to suppress moisture. Now if you are referring to a pre-attached underlayment then you will only need the moisture barrier to install. Underlayments which come pre-attached to some laminates are built only to cushion the floor and act as a sound suppressor.

To sum up – any time you are installing a floating floor over concrete (even at ground level) you MUST use a moisture barrier and underlayment or you will void your floor's warrant and most likely end up needing to replace the floor again within a a few years if not months.

Q: I'm looking at your Maple Caramel Nature 3" by Mullican. I want to do a floating installation. Other than an underlayment, is there anything else (materials wise) that I would need to buy?

Larry L.

A: This is dependent on where you intend to install. If you are installing over a concrete subfloor you MUST use a moisture barrier (usually 6 mil poly) and don't forget to use a seam tape to seal the seams of the vapor barrier. If you plan to do this install yourself, you'll want to get some tools such as spacers, a tapping block, pull bar, etc. Beyond that, Once you have your floor and underlayment (which I suggest cork as always because its the best stuff out there) you will be all set to go.

Also you will want to get an adhesive for the joints, since this is not a click-together wood floor. Kahrs' Landobond or Cal Flor's Eurobond is a good example of an adhesive for this purpose.

Q: After the laminate flooring is installed, I plan to move the large (8' tall) bookcases that are currently in a small hard-wood-floored bedroom to the newly floored room. These bookcases will line at least one wall, possibly two facing walls, and then be filled with books. I decided to go with laminate flooring because I was concerned that they would not be particularly stable on the current floor covering (carpeting). They are now and will be pretty heavy. Is there a problem with that, particularly since that will keep the laminate from using its "breathing space" near the wall? Is there anything special I should do?

Melinda

A: With such large bookcases, I would suggest putting the book cases in place before installing your new laminate. With how floating floors work, putting such heavy objects on one side of the floor near a wall will tilt the floor a bit and is bad for the stability of the floor. In the case of pianos, they don't line an entire wall so you can make that work, but with 8' tall book cases across an entire wall I would heavily suggest installing the floor after putting in the book cases.

Follow-up Q: I'm glad I asked! I haven't removed the carpet yet, and thus am not sure of the look of the underfloor. But when we move out some day, we'll take the bookcases with us. The resulting holes along the edge of the walls will not be pretty. But, assuming we do put the bookcases in over the subfloor, then put in the laminate flooring up to the bookcases (with expansion room), would we be looking at some transition element, like a baby threshold, alongside the bookcases?

But maybe laminate flooring is not the solution. Do you have any other recommendations? I can use a saw, hammer, level, straightedge, and lever, and didn't figure laminate flooring required gobs of strength, just patience.

A: If you have a wood subfloor, I would look into a floor you can nail down (3/4" solid being your best bet). Solid floors that are directly anchored to a floor will have no issue with your book cases. The other major benefit to a solid hardwood is it adds great value to your home. Laminate will add some value, but in the end it is laminate. (The good ones are durable as all get out though!) You can also look at an engineered hardwood floor, but make sure to use a harder wood with minimum hardness of white oak. (Avoid American Cherry, Black walnut and similar soft woods as they will dent under the book cases). Westhollow and Woodstock make some excellent solid and engineered hardwood floors (for this project I would suggest a pre-finished floor as the finish for these two companies is rather tough).

When it comes to transitions if you use a floating floor I would suggest using end caps/square nose. These will give the floor a smooth looking end to the floor and can go up against the book cases.

In regards to the platform-like approach for your book cases. You could build an area of flooring just for the cases, then put in t-molds to cover the gap between that and the remainder of the floor, but honestly I would look into a nail-down application for this project, as floating floors aren't designed to handle large furniture as effectively.

Q: We installed laminate flooring over old vinyl flooring in our kitchen and have run into a problem when trying to install the transition pieces (laminated wood transitions, no pre-drilled holes) between the laminate flooring in the kitchen to the carpet in the living room and reducers in front of the doorways. As our house is on a concrete slab the nails we bought bend when nailed in to the transition pieces. Our local hardware store suggested construction glue along the bottom tongue part of the transition piece - however that part does not sit low enough in the gap between laminate flooring and carpet to touch the bottom of the vinyl to allow to be glued down to anything. Can you glue or nail the transition strips to the laminate flooring or do you need to stay in the gap between flooring and carpet? We just want the easiest way to attain secure transition pieces without ugly nail heads showing. PLEASE help us!

Jamie H.

A: The first thing I would suggest is to check if your trim is one that is meant to be used in a track system. Most laminate trims nowadays are made so that you nail or glue (also called liquid nail) the track in place and then snap in trim into the track. Its somewhat common to get a track based trim without knowing you need the track as well when the tracks aren't included with the trim (few manufacturers include tracking with their trims).

This being said, you could glue the trim to the floor, but keep in mind these trims are meant to cover necessary expansion gaps and gluing something in place can effect this (although I don't think you would run into any issues as long as you keep your home well regulated throughout the year).

Make sure the glue you are using has a moisture seal built into it (most construction glues referred to as liquid nail will). Should the trim use a track, just pick up a track, glue it to your vinyl (you may need to rough the vinyl up slightly to help the glue form a good bond, then snap the trim in.

I would avoid nails in this case because of the concrete subfloor.

This is a follow up comment that came for our article with Tim in Cambridge, NY.

Q: We are doing the opposite. Our steps are set for hardwood but the hardwood is not installed yet. Now we have changed our mind to do carpet as they are not as slick. How do we do this when the steps are "framed" for hardwood. What adjustments are necessary?

Valerie

A: As long as you have a solid tread and riser area to install the carpet and pad you should have little issue. The one problem you may have is lacking the nose to the tread area of the stairs. That small overhang is helpful when installing and anchoring the carpet in place smoothly. Beyond that you should be ok to install your carpet, though I would suggest contacting a local carpet installer to make sure you have everything ready and are not missing anything.

Q: A friend of mine recently suggested using a birch luan plywood to finish the floor in my basement. The underlayment is 2 sheets of 3/4 inch plywood over 2x 4's with a moisture barrier as well. The luan plywood would be glued down along with a few nails. It might be stained but it would definitely be covered with 2 coats of polyurethane.

Bob

A: This would be an interesting approach to flooring. I've seen it used it trailers and various other utilities, but not homes. If cost is an issue you can look into cheaper priced laminate or even some unfinished hardwood flooring (such as a #1 common red oak).

Should you choose to go this route, you will want to seal the top of the luan (stain if you choose to stain), then finish with a good finish. Make sure to buff each layer to ensure the finish adheres properly. Use a higher grit sand paper (at least 200 grit, upwards of about 350-400 grit) and ensure to buff lightly and evenly with a polisher. When spreading the layer of finish, do not spread it too thick. Rule of thumb is to spread many thin layers rather than few thick layers, this will give a stronger and better looking finish.

Q: I am considering laying a high end 9/16" thick x 3-3/4" wide engineered oak floor over concrete in 3 rooms and 2 hallways. I intend to glue the floor to the concrete. Except for one hallway, the rooms and a second hallway are all part of a common area. The total area is 860 sq feet.

I sincerely appreciate any advice you can offer to assure a successful outcome with this project.....
Bill Rahm

A: The advice you have been given is correct. As long as your drywall is installed properly you should only need a 3/8” gap; however, if you want to be safe, use a 1/2” gap. A very important thing to note is th ensure you under cut your door jambs to account for the height of the floor.

The big benefit of an engineered floor is the ability for the floor to control expansion and contraction from the cross-ply lamination used to make the product. I would heavily suggest looking into a product with seven or more plies. This will control your expansion/contraction concerns without need for transitions.

Beyond this, the only suggestion I can give you is to use a good glue, such as Bostik's Best. Take time with your installation and follow all of the suggestions and your floor project will come out great.

Q: I am flooring on the second floor over wood and different types of tiles (some at different heights by the way). One of my rooms also has a gradual 1 and 1/2 inch slope (which is quite noticeable). I was told to put down flooring in the same way that the floor slopes. Is that correct or will I possibly have a problem. I do not want my new floor to crack or not look right. Do I need any other underlayment besides the cork? I appreciate any other feedback you may give me that I haven't touched upon. Thank you,
Jeff

A: Jeff and I have spoken a bit on this and based on his information, the slope he mentions occurs over about 6ft of flooring in one room of the home.

First off, I would not install without fixing the slope in your floor. As my friend Gene D. ,who works on commercial contract jobs here for iFLOOR.com, always says "I want my plumping to run downhill, but my floors to be flat."

For leveling, if the subfloor is plywood or OSB you can use any self leveling compound such as Raeco. If you are going to install over finished lumber (such as a pre-existing hardwood floor) you will want to shim the floor up until it is level. To do the leveling, you will want to use chalk lines to line out the area where the slope occurs, then do your leveling work. If you use a self leveler, make sure you give it plenty of time to cure before installing.

Jeff mentioned he was told he could install the floor using 6mm cork underlayment and then running the floor with the slope. Although I wasn't sure whether this meant lengthwise or widthwise for running with the slope, this could be done, but I personally would want the subfloor flat regardless of the type of floor to be installed.

With a floating floor, if the locks are engaged at angles, rather than being flat, you can run into issues where you will see gaps and the mechanisms themselves can go under excessive stress which can ruin them and cause the floor to fail. Jeff did mention he was a bit worried about adding weight to the sloped area of his floor, which is why he wants to avoid leveling the floor, but again I will stress that I would personally advise to level the subfloor before installing a new floor.

In regards to tools, I would suggest looking one of our installation kits. For floating floors this should cover everything you need beyond a good miter or similar table saw to do your cuts.

Q: I have a question in regards to wood floor installation around the stair newel posts. Our flooring company is advising that it will look much cleaner if they cut the newel posts and install the floor under the newel posts, rather than installing the floor around the posts. I am worried this will weaken the staircase. What is the normal way to install around stairs?

Gina

A: Your worries are correct. This is the last thing you will want done. The posts need to remain attached for stability; however, there are some tricks you can use to make the stairs look great and still keep the posts in place.

Tad A., Director of our Install Program here at iFLOOR, mentioned his “Install 301,” which lends two techniques to use based on how close your posts will be to the stair nosing. The first trick would be to install quarter round around the base of the posts to cover the cuts made for the flooring around the posts. Once they are stained or painted to match the posts it will look like they have always been that way.

The second technique is a bit more advanced, but a very good installer will be able to do this. At the base of the post, using a small saw you can cut away small portions around the edge of the post to act as a lip. Leave a majority of the post in place to keep everything stable, then you can install the edges of flooring for the stair under the lip to cover the cuts and make the entire stair look great.

The use of the quarter round will be the easier and is the better choice if the posts are near the edge of your stairs. No matter what you choose, do NOT cut the posts for your stairs, but find an alternate approach to make the stairs look clean and professional.

Q: I am wanting to replace the carpet and vinyl in an “L” shaped area that is my living (approx 310 sq. ft.) and dining area (approx 110 sq. ft.) with wood floors. My home is only 5 years old, located in Charlotte NC with a concrete slab sub floor. I am very interested in the Westhollow Wood 3/8” Engineered 3” Bubinga Deep Cognac floor and I plan on installing it myself. I have no animals that can scratch the floor and everyone takes their shoes off when you enter the house. My questions are as follows:

Susan S.

A: The Bubinga flooring from Westhollow is a great floor. Being an engineered, its built to resist expansion and contraction from temperature and is also built to float or be glued to a concrete subfloor. Is this a good choice? Yes, especially if you love the color.

We recently had a new batch of the Bubinga come in, so I took a trip over to our sample department to get acquainted with the new batch of this great floor. If you're looking for a rich color, the Bubinga is amazing. With any floor, I would highly suggest getting samples to actually have a piece of the floor in your hand. Another suggestion I have is to order multiple samples of a floor your set on, then put a few of them together and lay them down. This will give you an idea of how the edges look.

With the Westhollow engineered products, they have a great species/wear layer and in the case of the Bubinga the color goes all the way through the species layer. What your neighbor's floor is (by my guess of course) is a stained floor, where the stain is not through the product, so different colors can be seen. Also, the micro bevel on this product helps accent the individual boards while still allowing you to see only the rich color of the floor. This is the major benefit of any bevel, it will accent each board, but with a micro bevel you will have no worries of dust accumulation as the bevel is so slight.

A straight or square edge will show each board less dramatically. One issue that can occur with square edges is that slight differences in floor height become more obvious than when you have beveled edges.

As far as showing dust, darker colors will show dust more than light colors (just like cars). You will see a bit more dust with this floor than something like a white oak or natural maple, but if you keep up a good cleaning schedule (about once a week) this should really be no issue.

For underlayment, I highly suggest using Cork. The reasons behind Cork being such a superb underlayment are numerous, but the big things to focus on here is the density of the cork and the sound suppression granted by Cork. This will give you a comfortable yet solid feeling and sounding floor. This will make it sound a bit more like a 3/4” solid floor. Keep in mind, this is only if you intend to float the floor.

If you have heavier furniture (book cases, entertainment centers, etc) you may want to look into gluing this floor down. Should you go this route I would highly suggest having it done by a professional, but with a good cork underlayment you should be ok to float this floor without issue. In the case of a glue down, iFLOOR's installer in the Charlotte area, Jose N., is amazing. Recently he was given an 11 out of 5 star rating from a customer which speaks for the work and service he provides. (For the Spinal Tap fans, Jose goes to 11).

One thing to keep in mind is smaller widths (like the 3” vs the 5” Bubinga) will make a room seem larger, but this also happens with lighter colors. The bevels, which accent each board, will also help to make it seem like there are more boards in the floor, thus helping to open the room up. The darker hue of this floor will give it a bit of a formal look, but also the great color is one that is a real treat to see, so it will definitely be seen when someone enters your home.

Here's a few tips. This is a glue-together floor when it is being floated. This means you will need to use a tongue and groove adhesive between each board to anchor the boards together over the floor. Usually you will use a thin 1/8” bead of glue in the groove then slide the tongue of the next board into place, but always follow the suggestions from the manufacturer.

Order a couple of samples so you can see this floor in person. Put a few of the samples together to see how the edges will look and get a feel for the floor in your home (although I'm sure you'll love it, I do). My final tip would be to take your time if you're going to install this yourself. I do encourage you to visit our team down at the Charlotte store and get any tips they may have for you. Nate B. has a great floor in his home from Westhollow and I'm sure he can give you some great insight from his own experiences with his floor in the Charlotte area.

My final tip is to acclimate your floor. Give the floor plenty of time to acclimate to your home (I suggest a week or more). This will help to prevent any expansion and contraction issues because the floor should be accustomed to the environment of your home and will ensure your remains beautiful 10 years from now, just as it was when it was installed.

Q: We're buying a new townhouse which will have hardwood flooring throughout the first floor. We've never had hardwood floor before and have had a very difficult time deciding what type of wood to go with as well as color. We've finally decided on one of our builder's options which is Bruce Turlington American Exotic 5" maple plank, color natural (with the help of ifloor where we ordered a box of the caramel color to help us decide).

Sincerely,
Ruthie B.

A: As a preface, decoration ideas are highly opinionated in regards to what looks great versus what looks terrible. What I will try to do is give you some installation sound ideas on how to break up the “bowling alley” feel.

Installing at an angle, when done properly and with care, can bring a great effect to a home; however, I would not suggest it for something like a hallway. Most angled installations are done in larger open rooms, as this is where they will perform better.

One of the reasons some folks choose to install hardwood floors is to make a room seem larger. The plank appearance of wood gives a natural feeling of openness and elongation – so that bowling alley look is exactly what should happen. Don't despair though, there are plenty of ways to work around this.

The easiest idea would be to use runner sized area rugs (usually 2-3ft by 8ft or so). This will naturally deter attention and break up the floor some. Another idea is installation based.

This technique comes from Tad A., our Director of the Installation Program here at iFLOOR.com. Tad suggested building a foyer like break in the flooring. I've drawn a very basic mock-up from looking at the photos you included to give you an idea of how this would work. If you combine this with an area rug a bit farther down the hallway past your stairs you will get the best of both worlds, a great looking entryway and some additional break up with a well placed rug to accent your decor.

For the foyer like break, use a 2 or 3 board border, then install inside of it. Due to the width of your planks I would suggest using a 2 plank border. Your foyer can be anything from simple to a bit more artistic and difficult, though any good installer should be able to accomplish this installation easily. The border will be similar to a picture frame and you will want to use a bit of glue at the edges to ensure it anchors very well to the subfloor. From the border, you can install the dining room and hallways in differing orientations, but it will still flow well since the entire floor is the same wood and is connected to the entryway.

For the foyer you would be creating (assuming you like Tad's suggestion as I feel it gives great potential to add some unique look appearances to your home) there are several artistic designs you can look into. Another thought would be to buy 1 - 2 boxes of a different color of the same floor and intermix a few of these boards in order to add some additional color to the floor and break up the hallway even more. Below I have drawn up a few design ideas including a few with some tile inserts (or you could use wood medallions) to give people something beautiful to look at the moment they enter your home.

Here are a few various designs including some using the herringbone technique for installation at a 90 degree angle and a few designs with some area for tile insets. Tile could be replaced with carpet or mosaics for various appearances.

Q: We are building a new home in Western North Carolina, it is concrete slab on grade. No crawl space. We want to install 3/4 hardwood floor's. What is the best sub-floor to install over the concrete? What is the best method to attach the sub floor? Thanks for your help.

Needs Help,
George in NC

A: George and I have traded email back and forth for a bit and with some great insight from Gene D., we have a good solution to George's question. We found out the home is in the ground breaking stage and Gene had a great build based suggestion instead of gluing down directly to the concrete:

If I were building or intending to build a new home, I would make the necessary adjustments to accommodate such an install. That would include the installation of 2" x 4" cut in half to act as sleepers (glued and shot in place) on 12" centers then the installation of exterior grade 3/4" plywood, then resin paper followed by 3/4" nail down. The cost on this is surprisingly close to the cost of the adhesive that would be required to make this installation.

Gene also mentioned how a glue-down install to the concrete with 3/4” solid would be toast if it got wet. Now the reason behind this is because of how much movement can occur in a 3/4” solid should the floor absorb water from a large spill, water heater bursting or similar incident where there is liquid beyond normal cleaning, the floor will move and warp. Glue down installs do not allow for much movement nor for a whole lot of breathing room as far as the floor is concerned.

The subfloor spec Gene suggested creates a breathable subfloor which will prevent movement and be sturdy to boot. George asked about the possibility of floating two layers of 3/4” plywood for a subfloor then nailing to that. This would be a big no no, as it is not stable nor is it safe in the unfortunate event of moisture occurring. Should something cause the floor to move (such as humidity, water spills, or temperature changes beyond the norm) the entire floor would move in panels as the subfloor moved below.

Another thing to keep in mind here is price. Glue down floors tend to be fairly pricey, and the treated plywood required for George's floating idea also comes with a decent price tag. The sleeper set up, using treated lumber, is actually a fairly economical choice that, as an end result, will give far more stability and life for the floor as a whole. End result – if your building a home, this is a great way to spec the home and it won't cost much more to do when its spec'd in at the beginning.

Q: I am thinking of installing an engineered wood floor in my kitchen – Kahrs brand – can we install the wood flooring directly over the vinyl or does the vinyl need to be removed and an underlayment used. This is a second floor installation.

Lisa

A: As long as the vinyl is still in good condition, you should be fine to install a floating floor over it, but I would be safe and use a moisture barrier. Since you are installing on the 2nd level of your home, moisture barrier is not necessary, but again it can be a precaution. Although not necessary if this is roll vinyl, I would use it anyway as it will be the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy should something unfortunate occur where moisture seeps up through the vinyl from the subfloor.

If the vinyl is in poor condition, such as raising at seams or damaged in places you will want to remove it and any glue residue before installing your Kahrs floor. Keep in mind, with all floating installation you must use an underlayment.

If you intend to install this floor using glue or nails, you must remove the vinyl and all residue from the vinyl's adhesive before installing the wood floor. The good news here is that Kahrs make some excellent floating engineered floors and you should have great success with their product. As I always suggest, use a premium underlayment rather than less expensive foam underlayments to get a better sound and feel from your floor, as well as a longer life span from the underlayment.

A quick note from Tammi L. a member of iFLOOR.com's online sales team:

I always tell people in this case that another reason to remove the vinyl is they are adding height to their flooring by keeping it. Also- some installers will tell them if their is vinyl down they can forgo using an underlayment, which I do not agree with.

Q: Which way do you run the laminate wood grain when the areas go different directions? Such as opening the front door if you go end to end, which way do you go when the hall goes to the right? Then left to the kitchen?

Confused,
Judy Bell

A: There are two visually better ways to install in areas shaped such as your halls. The easier way to do this is to install the entire area with the planks going in the same direction. Although this will mean a bit more cut work than running each area length wise, it will look far better.

Another way to optimize the amount of space your planks cover without transition work is a method called herringbone. Typically herringbone is used at angles or to give a bit more visual appeal to a room, but in the case of hallways and rooms, it is a great way to install flooring at 90 degree angles.

The other method would be to install planks length wise in each area. This will minimize the amount of cutting required, but usually requires some transition work with t-moldings to make the changes look a bit more smooth.

In the end, which install method you choose is a matter of the product's capability and the skill or the installer. This also is a factor of the amount of time spent during the installation. Additional time can allow for smooth transitions without the need for t-molds or similar transition pieces. Personally I prefer he look of Herringbone or uniform direction in a floor, but in the end, make sure you do what looks best for you in your home.

Here is a quick sketch I made to illustrate the various installation methods for flooring in halls and rooms connected to halls.

If you read my previous few posts about Lev's project to convert his garage into a playroom for his children, you'll recall we've done a bit of talking so far. To catch up, here is a quick link to my previous two posts for Lev's project.

Garage Conversion to Playroom - What to use for Flooring?
Garage Conversion to Playroom - Follow Up

Since then Gene and I have been helping guide Lev's with a few suggestions concerning his subfloor which slopes (evenly) across the length of the garage. The total slope is about 4" over the 20ft length and is uniform across the width. To be safe, building the floor up a bit with some additional concrete is the best measure, but a floating floor can go across this slope as long as the install is done with care and a good underlayment is used. Since then Lev has progressed a bit on his project and has come back for a bit more help from the think tank here at iFLOOR.com.

Q: I thought that I would send you some new pictures of the garage conversion. As you can see, we kept the step connecting the garage with the playroom. We decided to get the smaller 78" door, and have the threshold about 2" above the patio, and then a cut-out vestibule that will be about 2" below the rest of the floor, and this small area will be tiled. The rest of the room will have engineered wood on heat coils.
We are not sure whether it should be glued or whether it can be floating.

Best regards,
Lev

A: In regards to the floor, do NOT glue it. It is very very rare for a glue down to be suitable for radiant heat systems. This being said, it can be done, but I would stick to a floating install personally, especially considering the slope to your subfloor. You should be ok using a 3mm cork underlayment as you will only see about a 3 - 5% loss in the amount of heat produced by your heating system. Gene D., head our iFLOOR.com's commercial contract work, agreed with me on the floor, going further to mention that "With the radiant system it is always better to float an engineered product, period!"

Gene kicked in a bit of advice about the concrete and French door concerns:

Power washing and priming are necessary when fills are of 2" or less. It does not look as though that is an issue here. As far as his relief for his door swing, he is right as I would increase it as far as practical (6" or so)

I have tossed a few more emails back and forth with Lev concerning a few small tips here in there, mostly with the concrete. Lev adjusted his project some to account for Gene's advice on the concrete and wanted some detail on a term Gene left a bit cryptic.

Reply: By the way, what does Gene mean by "feathering concrete"--what should we be aware of as we proceed with the project as I thin that they plan now on pouring the concrete on Friday or early next week. Based on further discussions, we will now put a sealant Moxie 1500 on the existing floor (and the little concrete that they put down already--shown in the pictures), and then apply a binding agent over this such as Weld-Crete's polyvinyl acetate (PVA) and then mix Moxie 1800 with the new concrete.

Follow-Up: The additives being used here are great! These will give the Portland cement in the concrete the ability to bond more effectively and make it much nicer to work with. In regards to feathering the concrete, Gene tossed up this great bit of knowledge:

Feathering is just a trade term for giving a material a feather edge. The ability to run out material to a very fine finish at a very thin margin. To achieve this ability, material must be modified (typically latex) to achieve a consistency that will allow it to be toweled down to net and not fracture.

Lev will be following up with us as his project gets further underway and I will make sure to post pictures and any further discussion. Being able to actually see a project from beginning to end is not only a great help on our end here at iFLOOR.com, so we can give the best advice, but it also serves as a great guide for anyone who may be trying to tackle a similar project.

Q: I am installing your Ming Dynasty bamboo strip flooring in a kitchen. Can floor leveling compound be used along the edges of a subfloor, where the floor meets the wall? (And how thick can it be?)

Sorry for the rambling explanation here, and thanks in advance for any advice!

A: I feel very comfortable in recommending that we forget about using a self leveler and just use a floor patch such as FixAll. Just mix it with water to a nice trowelable consistency and work it into the gap between the new subfloor and the walls. Then take a regular flat finish trowel and finish it flush to your subfloor. Most of today's floor patches are of a latex modified variety so fills can be made up to 1/2" at a time. Neither Portland nor gypsum based patches when dry will be effected by today's adhesives. No worries here.