Installing 3 1/4 x 3/4 ” raw oak in house with unfinished basement. Would welcome any suggestions on what to do beyond / instead of tar paper to eliminate possibiliity of moisture problems in the future. Thanks.
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Replies
Could you clarify? Are you putting the hardwood in the basement? over concrete? or on the regular plywood/osb subfloor of the first and or second floor level?
Sorry to be unclear. Hardwood is going on main floor. Subfloor is Advantek. Will insulate appropriately basement ceiling/ main floor floor. I try to do things 110% to avoid trouble and call backs. It's been a couple of years since I've installed hardwood so I was wondering if there have been any meaningful advances I might want to consider. All that's been done previously was 30# felt below hardwood. Thanks.
To answer your question, yes, there have been improvements in underlayment systems for wood flooring.
I'd suggest that you use Fortifiber HWD-15 - http://www.tools4flooring.com/fortifiber-hwd15-hardwood-floor-underlayment-432-sf-roll-p-1225.html?___store=english_11239125331
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which is more of a moisture barrier than felt.
I'm not familiar with that
I'm not familiar with that product, but if it's more of a vapor retarder than felt it's probably a good idea. In your situation the basement may very well have higher RH than the upstairs, leading to cupping of the flooring as vapor diffuses thru the subfloor. I tend to think that prefinished flooring will perform better in that situation as well, since the back is finished and the finish is also a vapor retarder. If you finish the basement with drywall on the ceiling, you'll get another bit of improvement.
I installed prefinished 3/4 x 3-1/2 oak on the second floor of my shop building. The first floor is a slab and it's slightly more humid than the second floor, but it has been enough to cause a tiny bit of cupping of the flooring. My experience was that the finish on the flooring made changes in MC occur very, very slowly.
Thanks for the recommendation. Since my post, in talking with hardwood installer, we have decided to use Ten Oaks brand material with six side seal.
tenoaksflooring.com/products/
That plus the Fortifiber product should eliminate any possibility of moisture penetration and cupping. Anybody familiar with this product - pro or con? Appreciate the help.
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How does it make any difference whether the basement is finished or unfinished?
If there's a well-detailed
If there's a well-detailed drywall ceiling below, vapor movement will be slowed.
Something I'm missing here:
Something I'm missing here: They've been putting hardwood flooring over unfinished concrete basements for maybe 150 years now. Why is it suddenly difficult to do?