I recently purchased a new condo on the top floor of a six story building. The condo uses a radiant heat floor system, the head pipes are embedded in the concrete floor. I like to install a hardwood floor, and since I am fairly handy, I was thinking of doing this myself. I have read many installation instruction from various hardwood floor manufacturers and I still have many questions. Bear with me as I list each of them.

1) Since I lived on the sixth floor, do I still have to worry about the moisture level of the concrete floor before I lay down my hardwood floor?

2) The new trend in hardwood floor layout seems to be laying the wood strips at a 45 degree angle instead of straight. All the installation instructions seem to only show how to do it the traditional way, anyone have any tips or recommendations as to how I should go about laying a hardwood floor at a 45 degree angle? Where should I start…at a corner? in the middle of the room?

3) If I use the hardwood that’s recommended for radiant heat system, is there any other stuff I need to be concern about? Will the heat dry out the wood? Will it cause the floor to buckle or warp?

4) I was thinking about installing a 6-8 mil vapor barrier over the concrete, then a form underlayment for sound proofing, then float the hardwood floor. Is this a better way then just floating it over the concrete?

5) I will probably order the hardwood over the Internet, so I want to make sure I am selecting the right hardwood since it would be very difficult for me to return anything. Are there different grades of hardwood for the same line. For example, if I went to the showroom and see a BR111 Engineered Brazilian Cherry, will the quality of the one that I ordered online be the same. What’s Grade B and B-Stock?

6) I am thinking about purchasing a higher quality ($5-7 sq.ft.) hardwood. What are some of the higher quality brands? Also, who are some of the more reputible online wholesaler?


Any suggestions or comments will be greatly appreciated.

-Vi

IMO, your best bet for a DIY wood floor over radiant would be a floating floor. You can install it at a 45. Most agree Kahrs is best but there are others. Award, Bruce, Tarkett, Boen, Junkers, etc. Ken at this site sells hardwood. Why not buy it here? And he will give you that right info on installing it; not like those other sites. Check it out!

http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... loater.htm

Thanks Gary. The calls I get

Had someone yesterday that insisted the BR111 5/16" engineered was a click together. The information came from another online retailer. He didn't want to hear that it had to be glued together to float. I guess he'll be ordering from them and try to make it click somehow.

Diagonals aren't simple with floating floors. The biggest problem is getting the end joints tight--and starting the installation. No reason for the visqueen on the sixth floor. Underlayment- sound? depends on what kind of specs the condo association may have.

Many newer homes will have some walls or rooms that will be at a 45 to the direction of your floor. I did a house this summer in a floater that had this 45 feature. It made the install more challanging but not impossible. You can't use your pull bar on a 45 cut end so what I do is use my pry bar to pry the boards together. It worked. Pull bar is easier on a 90 cut end however.

With any concrete substrate, a moisture retarder should be used, whether your on the 1st floor or the 100th floor.[/quote]

Perry's right. Crete is allways in some state of 'cure' and never fully loses moisture. (Learned that in the SeaBees!) All that info and a buck should get you a coffee in any Denny's in America.

Thanks for all the replies. I am looking forward to doing this project. Will keep everyone posted.