I want to replace the floor's in my dining room, kitchen, and great room with a floating QuickStep laminate floor. Here's the size/status of the rooms now:

Dining Room and adjoining hallway:
Size: About 200 sq ft.
Current Floor: Glued down wood planks.

Kitchen and adjoining hallway:
Size: About 150 sq ft.
Current Floor: 12 x 12 Cermaic Tile.

Great Room
Size: About 350 sq ft.
Current Floor: Berber carpet.

All of this is currently sitting directly on the concrete slab of the home. I've read that I can install a floating floor over both tile and other hardwood floors, but obviously not over carpet. As of right now, all three surfaces are level. If I were to put hardwood over the tile in the kitchen and the old wood in the dining room, it would not be level with the wood in the great room that would have to go directly on the cement sublorr after the carpet and pad are removed. The way I see it, these are my options. Let me know what you think is the best, or if there's another solution.

Option 1:
Install new floors over tile and old wood. I'm planning on using 8 or 9mm flooring on top of a pad for moisture and sound, so that would be the approximate difference in floor heights. Is this too much for transition type thresholds to mask? Will my 2-year old constantly be tripping over it? This "drop-off would occur in a handful of places, 3 bedroom entrances (onto carpet), 1 bathroom entrance (onto tile), and 2 entrances into the great room which will drop down onto the new wood.

Option 2:
Install new floors over tile and old wood, but put in a plywood or particle board subfloor in the great room where I'm taking up the carpet. This would eliminate the dropoff from "wood-to-wood" where the hallway meets and kitchen meet the great room. Is this even possible? And if so, what type of board should I use? and how should I fasten it to the cement subfloor?

Option 3:
Take up the old wood and ceramic tile floors and put the new floor on top of an even and consistent surface that will be level with all other floors in the house. This is obviously the most attractive option in terms of achieving a polished final result, but I'm worried about the demolition work involved. In total, I'll have about 200 sq ft of glued-down wood and 150 sq ft of ceramic tile to remove. Can I do it myself in a weekend? Is there a tool I can rent to help? What about the glue remnants from the wood floor, will that be a problem? Will I have problems getting the subfloor even? Or should I just hire a professional demo crew to do the work? And if I do, how much should I expect to pay them to make those surfaces ready for a new wood floor?


I'm a total newbie at this stuff, so when providing advice, please don't assume I know anything about the task in front of me. The more detailed, the better!

Thanks in advance!

Option 3.


If your existing hardwood is glued down over concrete, it must come up or it will buckle under your new floor.

I agree! Option #3. One should not install a vapor barrier over a wood product that is directly in contact with concrete (exception is pressure treated wood). The normal moisture transmission from the concrete will be trapped from evaporating and cause the wood to buckle and/or rot. Another option is to remove existing hardwood only and leave tile. Then thinset and nail tile backer board to the concrete where carpet and hardwood were to bring up to same level as tile. Anyway you cut it, alot of work! You probably will not be able to do the demo in a weekend; unless you have lots of help. There is a power tool for removing glued down carpet and tile; forget the name and not sure how well it would work on wood.