Engineered Wood Flooring On Plywood Over Concrete Slab

Use a minimum of two layers 3 8 10 mm cd exposure 1 plywood subfloor panels cdx in 4 x 8 sheets.

Engineered wood flooring on plywood over concrete slab.

A plywood core makes engineered flooring the most stable choice provided the slab is flat and dry by ken fischer issue 170 if you want to install flooring on a concrete slab your floor covering choices are limited. Engineered wood owes its water resistance to its unique structure. The nwfa guidelines say that a vapor retarder over concrete needs to be impermeable meaning a class i membrane according to building codes. You can t nail solid wood flooring to concrete without first installing a plywood subfloor.

Installing engineered hardwood flooring over concrete too tight against a stationary object will not allow room for normal expansion and may cause a failure. Each engineered board consists of thin strips of durable wood compressed onto high grade plywood. Install a subfloor solution. Two possibilities for subfloors are plywood on slab and sleeper.

This may be as simple as a 6 mil polyethylene plastic covering 100 percent of the concrete and brought up all walls then trimmed after the floor has been installed. Treated plywood to the concrete with concrete screws spaced every 16 in. Plank flooring four inches and wider requires either the plywood on slab system or the sleeper system topped with a minimum of 5 8 inch thick plywood or osb. Lay 6 mil polyethylene sheeting over the concrete to minimize moisture migration from the concrete up into the wood flooring.

A subfloor is necessary to install before the flooring can be put into place. Alternatively screw rows of treated 1x4s to the concrete 16 in. Pass the trowel through the glue at a 45 degree angle and install hardwood flooring immediately after the adhesive is spread. Plywood on slab begin by covering the slab with a vapor retarder.

In general use a notched trowel to spread the adhesive.