I was at Lumber liqudators today and the salesman told me that 3/8 solid hardwood can be glued down on concrete without a plywood subfloor, my house is 30years old, does anybody recommend this method? If so should I use Bostick MVP first as a sealer and then glue down with Bostick Best? I have one room that is lower then the rest of the house, six inch stepdown, would this be consider below grade and treated differently? A plywood subfloor in this part of the house would be less problematic then the rest.

Thanks in advance for the help

Yikes!!


If you must the, MVP may save you, then again, it may not.


Solid over concrete is a big risk no matter how you package it.

Have you priced MVP and Bostiks BEST? @ 45sq.ft. per gallon, how much is in your budget for wood, glue and moisture blocker?

Budget? I just want the wood to stick to the floor. they had five gallon pails for 147.00 I take it that you think an enginerred floor would stick OK to concrete but not the 3/8 solid? What if the wood was bamboo? isn't that more stable?

I would opt for the eng floor in this case. Soild floors over concrete are not a good idea imo when so many engennered floors out there that will preform 10 times better. Just a side note but when you have to use mvp/bostic best combo you are looking at spending almost two bucks a foot just for the glue and moistuer barrier. I have not seen too many get that 45 sf per gallon on bostic best anyway more like 35 a gal imo.

Bamboo can be glued. It is technically an engineered wood.

Does anyone think an acommplished DIY person can sucessfully glue down and enginerred floor? My guess is that if the floor prep is done right the glue will hold.

Floor prep is second to none in importance to the sucess of a direct glue down floor. It needs to be flat (within manufactures specs at least) and clean. Be sure to use the correct glue and trowel specified by the manufacture of the wood floor for your application.

I glued down 1100 sq feet of Bellawood Brazillian Mesquite 3/8 on concrete last July. No prep other than making sure it was level and doing a moisture test. This board and many others said it would break down and start moving in 60 days. 100% false. No problems whatsoever. NONE.

I never laid down any type of flooring in my life and it turned out beautiful. My wife was ecstatic and she is my harshest critic. If she is happy then it must look good.

This was taken with my camera phone sans new baseboard and quarter round.



Blue tape is my friend.

60 days? I've never heard anyone put an exact timeline on it. I have heard several say It is not if, but when. Also, it may not happen tomorrow, next week or next month, but it will eventually cup. Only because moisture levels in concrete are not static, they are dynamic and ever changing. Meaning they can exceed even the MVP's limits.

I did my first home with the Brazilian Cherry from Lumber Liquidators. 3/8" glue down over bare concrete. Although it turned out beautiful, I will never glue down again. I did about 500 sq/ft.

It is messy and you have to be prepared to do small sections over time. The biggest problem was that as soon as you open the box, the wood starts to pick up moisture and bow. Just slightly but it happens. For longer pieces, the bowing was adjusted by weights and tape. I also used the 5 gallon glue pail as a wedge against the edge. The hard part was the smaller pieces that you could not put any leverage on to stop them from bowing.

Wass it worth it? Yes. I learned never to glue again. Which is why I am doing 1000 sq/ft of the same Cherry in my new house. This time it is 1/2" and it will be nailed down.
Good luck.