Hi. I am new to the forum since I just bought a condo and would like to install hardwood floors myself.

The hardwood will cover about 1100 sqft including 2 bedrooms, hallway, kitchen, dining room, and living room. My condo is the bottom floor on a slab foundation several ft above grade. There are currently 2 layers of tile on the kitchen and dining room floor which I would like to take up as well as the carpet everywhere else.

I like the floating subfloor idea using staggared strips of plywood and I would like pre-finished hardwood. Currently I am not sure if I should nail down normal hardwood or if I should get the click together kind. I imagine the click ones would be easier but much more expensive.

Can anyone guess what cost might be for the moisture barrier, plywood, nail gun, nails and hardwood?

Will I run into issues taking up the tile or carpet? I peeked under the carpet already and the cement doesn't look smooth. It may not be level in some spots as well, unless those bumps are the carpet tack strips.

How hard is it to level a cement floor and what is involved?

I am also worried about the total height. I don't want to have to trim the bottom of every door. What does the total height typically end up being?

I'm sure I will have plenty more questions as I work this project. Thank you!

I am starting to lean more towards a 1-strip click-lock flooring (floated) for ease of installation. I probably don't want it directly on the concrete. Could I go with a 1/2" plywood (staggered strips) underlayment? Can I float both the plywood and the engineered wood? Would it still feel like real hardwood? I have never seen this engineered stuff and I am hoping it doesn't feel or sound like laminate.

If it is your intent to go with a floating floor installation, there is no need to go to the expense or labour involved in putting plywood under it. You would gain nothing advantageous with this, except being easier to reach the ceiling when you want to paint it.
Since you do not have residents under you, you wont need to install a sound abatement underpad, although there is little difference in cost between these and standard underpads designed for floating floor installations.
You will need two things: a flat base for the installation, a proper moisture barrier.

I thought the sound abatement helped with hollow noises as well when walking on your floor?

So the new question is... what would be cheaper: plywood and hardwood, or just a floating click lock engineered floor?

obviously if you are doing the labor yourself then the cost is only the material. So go to a store and price out material because nobody on this board can tell you price since there are a million products out there. We don't know where you are or what you are looking for. But common sense tells me that wood + ply wood = more the wood.

I bet there are some folks on this board who have already done some comparisons and would be happy to share their knowledge. Even if the answer is "I compared this brand and model to this brand and model + 3/4 inch ply and this was the result" it is greatly appreciated.

It's really all in what you want. That's a pretty vague question to answer. And like Jeff said, there's a million products out there.

If you were to take 2 products of identical value, a floating installation will cost less,( misc.materials & labor). OR you can choose a poor quality naildown product and a better quality floating product and when it's all said and done you have spent close to the same,( considering the subfloor), but look at the end result of what your walkin on. I guess the bottom line IMO ,is you have to weigh out the type of look , feel and performance your after , then compare products, taking it all into consideration.
If you compare a Corvette to a Mini Van I guess there's pro's and cons. What are you looking for ???

I mentioned what I am looking for in my second post but I will elaborate.

I am looking for the feel and sound of a hardwood floor and want to stay away from the feel and sound of a laminate wood floor.

I have walked on a hardwood floor that was built on top of beams and plywood. And I have walked on a laminate floor on top of beams and plywood. And I have walked on a laminate floor on top of a foam underlayment on concrete.

The laminate I don't like because of the clicking noise and the feel just isn't hard like hardwood.

The engineered click lock wood I have never walked on (and I don't know of anyone who has it) so one of my questions is what does it feel and sound like? Can I make it feel and sound like hardwood if it is on a concrete slab with the proper underlayment?

No you asked which would cost more. Floating floors will never have the same sound and feel as a nail down. whether you install a floater over concrete or nailed down plywood won't make any difference as long as they are of equal flatness. As far as putting a floater over floating plywood I would think that would give you even more of a hollow sound besides being absolutely no reason for it. As far as cost I will refer back to my original response and say that is entirely up to what you pick.

Thanks for everyone's responses so far. It is obvious that I am new at this and just need help in making my decisions.

So all floating floors will sound hollow and make the clicking noise? Even a floating engineered floor with a good underlayment?

IMO all floating floors feel and sound hollow, regardless of the underlayment. But, there are underlayments ,again IMO, that make a floor sound and feel better than others.
You also have to understand that alot of installers on this Forum have been installing for years and years, we can walk on a floor and are very sensitive and critical to how the floor feels. If I was in your shoes, pardon the pun , I would try to find a dealer that supplies different underlayments, plop them on the floor with some different samples over the top and see what you think. I used to do this when I had my showroom, people appreciated it, and could tell the difference in feel between underlayments and products.