Hello,

Thank you for taking your time to read this.

My wife and I have a one-bedroom condominium that is currently carpeted. We would like to replace it with a hardwood floor.

We contacted several contractors and they all provided different opinions.
The problem that they saw was that the our base floor is concrete.

Some told us that we should only go with "click-click"-type floor since they could not glue or nail them. Others told us that they would glue or nail hardwood floors.

As a newbie of this, we do not know what to do about this.

Specifically, if we were to keep this condominium (about 650 sq. feet) for about 2-3 years,

1) Do I want real wood or a manufactured product on the concrete floor? (what would be the cons or pros of click-click type or realy hardwood)?
2) What about the thickness of the product???
3) Do I get the parts (woods) by myself or have them bring their products?
4) Contractors are providing anywhere from $4000-$6000 range including parts. What should be the decision criteria to choose one contractor over others? Who should I believe or go with?

We have been stuffering for these questions for several weeks now until we found this forum.

Any help or comments would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.

1.) Concrete poses 2 problems, for unexperienced flooring contractors.
Moisture and flatness concerns.
I would not install a solid wood floor over concrete, no matter what the method. Too much risk for my reputation. An engineered cross ply hardwood can be successfully installed as a fully gluedown, or if the T&G design allows, as a floating installation. Some new engineered wood now has the glueless T&G design, and is made to be a floater only. You need to have the concrete tested for moisture vapors, prior to any installation. If the installers say it is not needed, check them off your list.

Either way, the concrete surface has to be flat, not really level, but flat as a pancake or a pane of glass. 1/8" in 6' is the spec for substrate flatness. I have yet to see a perfect concrete slab!!!!!! If the installers say it is not needed, check them off your list.


2.) Your choice. Again, engineered over concrete, has plies of wood in opposite directions, to make it more dimensionally stable with swell & shrink. You want to pay attention to the top wear layer thickness. And I thickness of wood that keeps trip hazards to a minimum, at transitions.


3.) I hate to be a sales guy, personally. Some contractors like to sell their wood, because they mark it up and make a profit off the sale, too. They will refuse to install your wood, or will charge you more to make up for the lost profit off the sale of the wood.
All I like to do is the installation, I'm too honest to be in sales, I'd starve.
You can find an installer to provide you with just a material take off, and a labor quote, then purchase your wood on-line.


4.) Here again, there are some slick talkers out there. First ask if they have any Certifications. Are they fully insured and are they bondable? References, recent and long ago. You want to check jobs older then a year!!!! I have references from 15 years ago on my reference sheet.
How honest and open is the installer with you. Does it feel like you have known the guy for years, only after the first brief meeting, interview and quote.
Go with your heart and don't second guess it.

Whiever you hire MUST do a moisture test on the slab. If nobody suggests the moisture test, call some more contractors until you find one knowledgable enough to do this.
You can only glue thin solid wood directly to slab, except for 3/4" shorts. You can glue engineered as well. You also have the option of floating engineered on a layer of foam or appropriate padding. I prefer the floating floor on a slab, its easier on the limbs. These can 'click' or be glued to each other-product depending.
Engineered will be more stable than solid. I am not hot on the new thin solid tongue and groove meant for glue down, but its your condo and they say it works. BR111 makes a variety of exotics. They can be refinished proabaly 2 times.
There is an option of installing 3/4" plywood on the slab and nailing real 3/4" wood. This adds time and expense and there are sometimes height problems with dishwashers, refridgerators, toekicks, etc. It is a proven method that will last the life of the structure.
Engineered goes in quick and easy and the options are overwhelming. I think they work well in a condo environment. Many can be refinished up to 2 times. Kahrs and Mannington are my current favorites.
For price, you should lok at sq ft. Install is generally $2-4+ /sq ft depending on region and degree of difficulty.
Once again, I would not hire a contractor who did not know enough to do a moisture test.

I am really speechless about the depth of your knowledge.
I don't know how to thank you for your help and time that you shared answering my questions.

Thank you so much.