Help me out, buddies. My brother in Tx. wants to put a hardwood or Pergo product in his entry and hallway. He is on a slab. Can he lay 3/8 or 1/2 inch cement board down with some good floor glue and then put the pergo product over it? I know he can’t do the hardwood that way, but the “floating floor” should work, shouldn’t it? How could he do hardwood over the slab? Thanks for your replies……..
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
In older homes like these, the main remodeling goal is often a more welcoming, more social, and more functional kitchen.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Fine Homebuilding Magazine
Fine Home Building
Follow
-
Fine Homebuilding
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial Now -
GBA Prime
Get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
Replies
Hartco has a prefinished laminate wood floor guaranteed below grade on concrete. The name is Pattern Plus and is used in the Outback Steak houses so it must be durable. The flooring is glued down directly to the concrete. As for Pergo, dont know.
You can use a thin EPDM membrane (black rubber) over the concrete, hardwood floor over this, and fasten the hardwood flooring to each other. Using T&G I edge-glue. Then in effect you have a floating floor, it can expand and contract under the baseboard moulding and won't develop openings. Or you could do like my 50's house and use black tar over asbestos-faced vinyl tile.
remodeler
What are the full conditions and what is he trying to do? Why the cement board.
There are many options for hardwood floors on slabs.
Starting with engineered woodflooring (not laminates, but layered real wood products). They can be installed either by gluing them down are attaching to to each other and float the floor.
There is a 3/8" solid wood flooring that I think that you can glue to a slab.
You can lay down playwood and then nail 3/4" solid wood flooring to it.
You can install Junkers 3/4" solid wood flooring as a floating foor.
junckers is a great product, could use this with a moisture barrior and float this or pergo lam product on top, these products do not need a subfloor between the slab and the finished floor
Thank you all for your input. You have given me the info I needed to relay to my brother and get him going on his project. This is the GOOD thing about Breaktime Forum and one of the reasons I'm here every night. Thanks again...........
Bob,
The laminate flooring doesn't need the concrete board. They do need a vapor barrier. Pergo also has/had a product called "whisper walk". It is designed to also float below the flooring and deadens/absorbs the sound. The laminate floors have ring to them of sorts. I did not use it on my install due to cost but regret it now. A friend installed the WW material and actually glues it to the slab and was pleased with the results.
Bill