Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Engineered wood over concrete slab

This is a great forum! I appreciate the resource. I have done a lot of reading to try not to ask a question that has already been answered without luck.

I am installing an engineered T&G wood floor over a concrete slab. My moisture content, determined by using. . . can't think of the name of the chemical. . .test was from 7. to 11.something. . . I know this is very high.

To counteract the moisture I am going to seal the floor with a concrete sealer, then put down a vinyl flooring that I bought at "Big D". This will go down with an adhesive. Another moisture test will then be done. The wood will be adhered to the vinyl with Bostick adhesive.

Doing me a favor my contractor had his workers fix the seam between the new slab and the old. I spent 3 days grinding down the hump:(. I have filled the obvious holes. My question has to do with the not so obvious dips in the floor. Do they all need to be filled or do I have some leaway because of the vinyl going down before the wood? Some of these dips are between 1/16" and 1/8". At what measurement do you fill?

I am some what anal about detail. I do not want to go to all this work then have a problem. I want to have a floor that lasts!

One last detail, I wish I could afford to have someone come in and do all this for me. Unfortunatly the funds are quite limited having just added 538 square ft to the house. As an artist I have found that labors coming into do the detail work aren't as particular as I am.

I appreciate the input.

Was that calcium chloride?What you may want to do as the dips in the floor are marginal is to go ahead and skim the floor with something called ardex feather finish this will fill in most of the voids and and make the floor a little more smoother so you will sleep better at night :D
I just read an article about using the vinyl as an underlayment for wood and they seem to agree with whoever told you to use that for the same reason.Just make sure the thing is stuck to the floor real well.You may want to scarify the vinyl by roughing up the vinyl to break through the top layer of poly and give the glue something to stick to.Which reminds me is this a floating engineered floor?If so then forget all this.
Although the best way to do this would be a sleeper system using 2 x's and plywood this would be the next best thing.make sure the manufacturer is ok with gluing it to a vapor barrier of this sort you can contact the manufacturer and they can tell you what you can do if this is not acceptable.
Things cvhange almost daily it seems like so what is not acceptable today may be so tomorrow good luck ,have fun and please let us know how you make out :cool:

Ok, so now your installing vinyl, over a know wet slab.


What does the vinyl adhesive manufacturer spec for the moisture vapor emission levels to be to use there adhesive? You best check that out. What about the pH, now that the MVE are known to be high. Alkaline will eat vinyl adhesive.

Have you thought about a MVE system with the adhesive manufacturer?

http://www.wftaylor.com/products_results.php?cid=3#

2071 - TUFF-LOK X-LINK Wood Flooring Adhesive
Taylor
Wood, Cove Base & Ceramic Adhesives

This Meta-Tec™ wood flooring adhesive is a non-flammable, high-solids, waterproof, advanced cross-linking resin blend adhesive recommended for the interior installation of all parquet, engineered wood flooring, acrylic impregnated wood flooring, long plank, shorts, bamboo and pre-finished and un-finished solid wood up to 3/4” thick over approved substrates. When used in conjunction with Taylor #2022 X-Treme Concrete Sealer, the System Performance Warranty (Lifetime) will apply. Note: for exotic species of wood flooring, contact Taylor for installation recommendations and warranty clarification. *This cross-linking adhesive is waterproof when cured.

Size:

Thanks Mr Floorman, It was Calcium Choride tests made by Taylor. I appreciate your input. You have given me more to check into. I knew I was taking on a large, complicated project. . tee he he. . little did I know. I am not jumping into it without really being sure that I am using the correct products for the job. Sometimes my obsessive behavior is an asset! I am taking my time and enjoying it. Even the removal of the old tile and that old tough thin set.

Thanks to you Mr. Carpets Done Wright. The above mentioned test included PH test which I haven't used yet. I will do so and go back to Big D's, which is a floor covering supply organization here in Southern California. Because of your questions, I checked the adhesive out, in tiny print it says, "not recommended for use with vinyl backed products". I will do further research . . . thanks for the link, and go back to Big D, a little bit smarter. Just one question, at this moment. What is an MVE system?

Thanks so much,
Michelle

MVE System = Moisture Vapor Emissions, System.

Concrete Moisture sealer and adhesive system, with a moisture warranty.

I was told that I couldn't purchase the floor sealant because I was not a contractor. It was recommended that I use Thompson's Concrete Waterseal from Home Depot. Additionally I was told that the Bostick's BST has a glue you can pay more for which is guaranteed, although because my water content was so high the warantee would be void. The wood glue they sold me is supposed to be the same glue, only no warranty.

Today is the day that I will be investigating your recommendations, which I truly appreciate.

Thanks,
Michelle

Besides Taylor adhesives anf their moisture sealer, there are several others with MVE suppressors.

Here is Ardex and their product.
http://www.ardex.com/prod-mc-inst.htm

"It was recommended that I use Thompson's Concrete Waterseal from Home Depot."

I would seriously avoid that recommendation.

I have discovered that Explorer works much better than Netscape with this forum. I haven't been able to access this for a couple of days. . . .Explorer works!

Thanks for your advise. I am looking into other methods for sealing my floors. . . . It turns out that I can purchase the sealant available at Big D. They just don't recommend someone without experience and the correct tools to use the product. . . . This I do understand. I am an Artist who is very clear that the correct tools are necessary and ultimately much easier.

I would love to find someone local to work with, and will check out that part of this site. My problem with hiring someone to seal the floors deals with access to the whole area at one time. My plan is to work one room at a time.

Thanks,
Michelle