Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Oak Plank Floors: Floating vs. Gluedown?

I recently purchased 3" wide by 5/16" thick oak plank floors from Lowes to place in my dining room. I was planning on installing this myself, but have some concerns.

I live in the Southern United States and have a concrete slab. The instructions from the manufacturer say to glue the planks directly to the concrete slab. This seems like a bad idea to me since I live in such a humid climate. I know I can perform a moisture test by sealing a piece of polyethylene to the concrete slab, waiting 24 hours, and then checking for moisture or fog under the polyethylene. Even so, I am not sure I would be comfortable with risking buckling or cupping of the wood with such a lofty investment.

So the question becomes. . .(1) is there an inexpensive method of sealing a concrete slab with a sealant in such a way that an adhesive will still adhere to the sealant so you can glue down planks? (2) what problems could result if instead of gluing down the planks, I just glued the tongue and grove portions together and installed it as a floating floor on top of some carpet foam? Does the 3" width present a problem?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Kermit

If these are solid hardwood and not engineered ply hardwood, don't even think about gluing the directly to the slab! I don't care what the manufacturer says.

There are moisture sealers, but you better ask the adhesive manufacturer which one is compatible with their adhesive. Also ask just what their warranty covers. Are they going to give you more sealer free, when the floor fails, or are they going to pay FULL replacement costs? :eek:

Kermit,

I am not a professional, but thought I would share experiences and advice. I live in the Houston, Tx area and have a personal friend that is a custom home builder. He advises NEVER glue down a floor to a concrete slab in moist, humid climates. It will fail! period. I have a co-worker just a few days ago sharing her horror story after purchase almost 1000 sq ft of engineered hardwood flooring and had it installed. The installers were not very honest about (or just had no experience and didn't know) the problems with glue and moisture. She now has a huge disaster on her hands. The floor in a number of places is coming up. The manufacturer is washing their hands of it saying it was an installation problem.

Hope this helps. Do your research and educate yourself is the best precaution to making a mistake.

Cliff