Wood Flooring?

I am planning on installing wood flooring onto a floor that is a concrete slab. One installer says to put engineered flooring on the floor in a floating method and/or glued. The other says to use 3/4 solid flooring nailed down. Any help?

Public Comments

1. Go with the 3/4 inch. It wears better, longer and has better insulation. You can re-finish it later if you want. The engineered floor is about half the thickness and doesn't refinish at all.
2. floating floor is the way to go, but....first need to lay down a vapor barrier, such as 15# tar paper, then the foam pad, and followed by the flooring. Remember keep a 1/4 inch gap all around the outside for expansion and contraction.
3. For the price a vapor barrier ad floating floor is the best option as its almost immune to water damage.
4. Because it's a concrete slab, your flooring will go through extremes of expansion and contraction. A naildown will suffer through the years, while the floating floor with the vapor barrier will glide over the concrete and fare much better through the years.
5. I Can confirm that you want a floating floor. The temperature is the key element. You do not want to nail down because there will be too much change.
6. Flooring obviously cannot be nailed over concrete without building a screed or wooden subfloor on top of it. You're going to want to glue down or float. Now, 5/16", 3/8", and 1/2" solid and engineered hardwood can be glued or floated. However solid wood is not recommended for any below grade application and will not be covered by warranty if the slab is a basement. Of the two methods, I much prefer glue down hardwood over floating. The floor has a more solid feel and will not flex when you walk on it. Engineered hardwood is different than solid in that it is made of 3, 5, or 7 layers of real wood, instead of one. This does not mean that the floor cannot be refinished but it does limit sanding to one time only.