Hello, Ive got to glue down my flooring,the whole upstairs.It needs to go from woodsubfloor to concrete. Ive been preping my concrete floor like you guys recommend, by grinding high areas and filling the low areas, its very time consuming but necessary.Im not sure how to prep the wood area.Ive got the old 9x9 tiles in our kitchen on wood subfloor over the basement. these tiles are really stuck down well & Id like to go over them with the wood.Should I glue these or staple this area thru the tiles? or remove the 9x9s completely. Thanks Steve

Bruce 5/16 solid oak/Bruce equalizer adhesive

wast of time on the sub floor
nail it to the sub floor. its cheaper and faster. If you ever need to grip out any flooring on the plywood, you will just be gripping your plywood subfloor up. and than you will be fixing the sub floor to. Just nail it down on the plywood sub floor.
Jeff

Thanks Jeff I'll just nail thru the tiles and be done. Steve

If the tiles are ceramic, stone or porcelain, you not nailing through them. If they are vinyl tiles, you may be able to nail/staple through them. The gauge of the staples for Bruce's 5/16" floors are pretty thin. I would recommend a nailing/stapling test first, to ensure the staples do not deflect and bend. Or use the PowerNail model 200, which uses special cleats..

One other thing to consider. The tiles may be of sufficient age to also have asbestos in the mix. You dont want to be messing with those. It is recommended to cover them rather than remove them.
Big change from back in my day lol. We did some pretty unhealthy things during my career in the field.

Whoops, forgot what I was going to say. Remember that your new floor has a very reflective surface. Any irregularities in the subfloor will visually transmit to the surface of the hardwood. I would spend as much effort as possible to achieve a flat surface for best final appearance of the hardwood.

Yes, these are the issues I have been considering, OK I think I have 2 options.Plan A:I think I want to try to staple thru these tiles & leave them in place. If.. the staples will go thru the tiles and hold the flooring well.They are the 9x9 vinyl, 1960s era & I do think they have asbestos in them.Dont want dust.Plan B: I can remove them by using my heat gun, they come up rather nicely in one piece with no dust created.then staple to wood.Also there are approx. 300 of them & I still will have to dispose of them properly.
Thanks for all the good input. Steve

Also meant to say that time is not an issue for me,I have been working on the floor for months,I dont want to have any problems in the future. I want to do it right the first time. Steve

Yes, they are 9x9 asbestos tiles. Don't bust them up, when you remove them. Keep them in full tiles, so the asbestos does not get airborne.

Didn't some of that old cut back adhesive have asbestos in it as well? I'd be tempted to cover them with 1/4" plywood and go over that. Clean and neat.

I like the "cover-up" idea as well. Would be the optimum solution.
Problem is sometimes ya lose a project because you want to do the job right, and "Joe" down the street will just come in and rip things out with low paid grunts.

True, but in this case, it's a homeowner asking us how to do the job in his home. Sounds as if he plans on doing the work himself and not hiring it out.

Yeah, I am doing it myself with wifey I dont think I can install plywood over because then I'd be at a different height than the rest of the house,I'd have to do the whole house.I want the whole floor one level and flow nicely same direction everywhere with no T moldings.Is there a way I can cover it & transition to the other areas that way? Steve

Well if you DO cover the tile, you will have to have some form of transition to accomodate the height difference; so perhaps in this case it is best to carefully remove the tile.

I think will go ahead & remove the tiles carefully, Thanks to all you guys that provided your input to me. Steve