Bought a house in Houston, Tx 20 mo's ago. House had berber carpet. Since living there I've had problems w/ asthma and allergies. Recently had a water leak and had to pull up the carpet in a bedroom. Although the carpet can look clean on the surface. Below it was full of dust and when the house was vacant for 9 mo's on the market it sat in humid climate and I believe there are mold spores in it. My wife and I decide to go with flooring/ We looked at Kahrs and Greenkett but we're doing 1200 sq/ft. The cost was prohibitive. I'm a Detective, she's going to school. So we ended up at Flooring Today and Floor&Decor. The both had a product 5/8 solid wood t&g prefinished in 6 ft lgths of combined pieces. We liked the rustic look (knotholes etc.) Home is Colo. for me. Anyways we were sold on the fact that the floor could be floated using a clip system and if you wanted, glueing the t&gs. I've got about 100 ft down. What a mistake. Every step you hear every clip making contact. Very noisy. I'm going to start over. I've had differing opinions. Yes you can gluedown (BBST+MVP)or no you can't glue solid wood. I am on a slab over sandy well draining soil. but the cost for both products per sq ft is high. Or, must I go over 3/4 in ply/osb. and staple? Does the plywoood have to be anchored? I'm usually a pretty handy guy at DIY but I feel like a Fool for not doing more research before buying. All help appreciated. With a humbly bruised ego in Houston.

With 5/8 solid, installing a plywood sub-floor is your best bet. They say (in theory) you can glue anything under ¾ but in practice you are left with the repercussions of doing so. It is a good rule of thumb to not glue solids unless they are shorts. If your product happens to be what they call solid bamboo (it’s technically an engineered) then it is safe to glue but all other solid species are asking for trouble when glue is added to the equation.

I guess the jury is in, on the clip system and the verdict is junk. I have heard more complaints about that system than any other installation method. I have never performed one myself and after the horror stories about it, I don’t thing there is much incentive to try. Floating wood is best left to engineered products.

I'm sorry to hear that you having trouble with the clip system. I installed over 700 sq ft using the clip system from Floor&Decor and I have not had any trouble at all. I never hear any sound from any clips. Everyone who has visited us has been impressed with our new floor. And, with my daughter just graduating from high school, we've had a lot of visitors.

A difference in our floors, I used the 3/4 in thick, random lengths Cinnamon oak. I did install over a concrete slab, which was very flat (I checked). I also used the recommended pad. Did you install over a pad?

I hate to see the blanket comments that all clip systems are junk, because mine is not. The clips worked for me! (I did not want to glue over the concrete.

Regards,
Marty

The only clip system I was aware of is Junkers. I have not installed any but have walked on many and refinished a few. None made any noise so I'm sorta surprized about the negative comments. Junkers has been around a long time.

Did they use a cushioned underlayment, and did they flatten the floor?

I have a couple of buddies that do floors and finish work up in north Florida (they are reputable guys) both of them went through the ringer with the clip systems. One tried to install it in his show room (right when the product came out) and said that the clips where causing all kinds of problems will board to board height. The second did one on the insistence of a client and the client had him rip it out after two weeks and install a sub-floor and do a traditional nail install. As I said I have not used them and cannot give you personal experience. But I really trust these guys’ opinions and they have decided to not install any more clip systems. I am with you guys on Junkers, I like their wood products allot and was not disparaging the company. I was just stating that I am hearing more and more negatives about their clip system. It may not be a bad system, but it may take a new way of doing things that most are not familiar with, my observation about it was if two pros are having problems with it, it may not be a DIY friendly product, just an observation, not an opinion. So my take is I have no incentive to find out for myself so I will not be installing one anytime soon.

Sorry I did not respond recently. Thanks for the comments. I have decided to put down 3/4 ply on the concrete. Yes I put underlayment down. A friend is going to loan me a pneumatic nailer. I just have to get the 5/8 plate/shoe.

My question is: what is the best way to anchor the plywood. liquid nails? Or do I need to ramset? Both? None?. When I get close to the wall with the last runs, how do I attach them. Nails?, glue?.


Thanks in advance.