Any flooring guys out there that can give me the best option for wood over radient?
We have an area approximately 700 sq ft living/dining room. The sub floor is 3/4″ t&g ply glued and screwed. Radient tubes run approx 8″ oc stapled to the subfloor on top of an aluminum reflector. We then screwed 3″ wide plywood sleepers between the radient tubes for future nailers. I would like to use a pre finished product, but my options seem to be limited when it comes to nailed down flooring. Un finished quartersawn oak?
Any proven methods would be appreciated.
Thanks, Bobby
Replies
The most critical phase of hardwood over radiant is dryout/acclimation. The radiant system should be run for a min of 48 hrs. at 85*. This dryout needs to be performed after all wet trades have left. This dryout allows the subfloor and framing to exaust moisture prior to wood floor installation.
Acclimation requires bringing the flooring into the house, snapping the strapping and loosely racking the boards thruout the rooms they will be installed in. Proper acclimation means seasoning the flooring under "normal living conditions" for at least 3 days....a week is better.
Do not use roofing felt as an underlayment as the tar will outgas when the heating system is active. Use red rosin paper as an underlayment/slip sheet or refer to heating installation guidelines or your sales rep for proper underlayment/slip sheet beneath hardwood flooring.
Install flooring perpindicular to the joists making sure you don't nail into the tubing. Mark and snap lines on the slip sheet noting location of the heating tubes.
Any 3/4" solid/engineered prefinished or site finished flooring can be used. I prefer a site finished floor over radiant. A site finished floor allows the heating sytem to be run a second time before sanding and finishing. Often times a floor will contract after the sytem is turned on. This contraction can occur not only across the grain but radially (creating proud edges). Using a site finished material will allow you to fill any gaps before sanding and finishing.