Oak Flooring

How is hardwood flooring fastened down over a concrete slab. This is the real oak that is then sanded and finished.

If an oak floor, such as the above, has been refinished once, can it be sanded and refinished again for a third go-round?

If a natural colored oak floor that has been refinished previously is sanded out, can it be stained a darker color?

Thank you in advance.

Roger

Reply to
RES
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Probably an adhesive. Not usually done over concrete though.

Yes Yes You're welcome

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

It's actually done pretty regularly around here where the slab house is king. I have bamboo over concrete, which isn't all that great of an idea as it turns out. Some day I'll probably rip it up and put down some sort of hardwood.

Reply to
krw

Just curious. Why is it a bad idea?

Reply to
Bob F

You nail down sheets of 3/4 tongue and groove ply - stagger the seams - and then nail the flooring to it with "cleats". Put a vapor barrier under the ply.

"Nailing" the ply is easiest with the ones that are shot into the floor with a .22 cartridge. Still not easy as they come in various loads...too weak a load and you'll be beating them in by hand; too strong and you'll shoot them clean through the ply.

You won't be able to nail the flooring to the ply at the normal angle. Two solutions... 1. Use shorter cleats 2. Use a nailer with an accessory shoe to change the angle. ________________

_____________

Sure. Unless the first sanding took it down to a nubbin and there is no longer a tongue and groove :) ____________

Sure.

Reply to
dadiOH

I think a lot of these engineered floors are glued together and just float on top of a vapor barrier membrane.

Reply to
gfretwell

None of us can answer. Have a local hardwood floor man check. It has to do with how much material is left before getting into the tongues. Most floors can be sanded 3 times, again depending on how heavy each sanding has been.

Be VERY cautious about staining the floor dark. Make sure you go see several full rooms somewhere with a dark stain. It is decision from which you cannot recover. I've known several people to regret the decision.

Reply to
DanG

Bamboo doesn't seem to like glue. There are "hollow" spots under the floor. The "good" news is that I don't think it'll be any trouble to take up. :-(

It's crap bamboo, too, but that's not pertinent to the discussion of flooring-on-slab.

Reply to
krw

This would double the cost of installation and is unnecessary. In the entire SW US houses are built on concrete slabs. Hardwood, either solid or engineered, is glued or floated (with a vapor barrier) on top of the concrete. Done it myself with 3/8 engineered hardwood. Looks really great and, after 15 years, looks like new. There is no warping with engineered hardwood and it is less expensive because only a veneer is used as a top layer. It comes pre-finished with an ultra hard finish.

Walter www.rati>> How is hardwood flooring fastened down over a concrete slab. This is

Reply to
Walter E.

And can NOT be effectively sanded and re-finished.

Reply to
clare

But as cheap as it is if you price the sand/refinish labor it would pay for new manufactured flooring.

Reply to
jamesgangnc

A few comments: The grain in Oak is porous, and allows stain to soak in for a decent distance making it hard to sand and restain properly. So, the grain of the oak might not absorb your stain at an even rate, and you might get some spotty sections if you try to go a different color. Secondly, I wouldn't put wood directly on concrete -- there are some rot issues there. You can get some underlay material from your local hw store. A thin sheet of plastic is a minimum, but even

2mm foam makes the floor a touch easier on the back, and will absorb some extra sound. If this is in a basement where's there's a potential for seepage/flooding, you should go a step further than that, and make sure there's somewhere for the fluids to drain to.

John

Reply to
John

Thanks. When I first wrote the question, it was about an existing oak hardwood floor in a house we were looking at. The floor had been finished after installation and then about 7 years ago. The second refinish was sand, clear stain and 2 coats of poly. The question involved a third sanding and staining a bit darker. As you hit on, the concern I had was the effect of the two previous coats of natural stain and the 3-4 coats of poly that had gone before. Having finished and refinished furniture, I know that the old finish can penetrate wood at different depths and rates, and that a color change is very dangerous to try. You've confirmed my concern.

The flooring in question is installed both on slab and over a half basement. I have no idea what's below the flooring and would presume it to be 30# felt, but who knows. I have no idea if the slab portion is floated or secured, and suspect the latter using a glued down underlayment. In 1995, when it was new, my guess is that they were not big on gluing the T&G joints and just floating the oak boards.

Thanks to all for the responses.

Nonny

Reply to
RES

IMO, you are concerned for naught. Yes, stain penetrates - a bit - but neither it nor the poly is a match for machine sanding. A belt floor sander would whisk that sucker clean in a flash. OK, maybe a couple of flashes :)

Reply to
dadiOH

Reply to
Gary Dyrkacz.

But unless it has a layer of real wood on top, it looks like a cheap countertop. Even the kind with the wood top layer, the faux seams and regular joint patterns scream at me. (and when I was house shopping, I saw several where they didn't even stagger the seams....)

Reply to
aemeijers

Who says all engineered hardwood can't be sanded and re-finished? I've seen lots of references that say those that have a thick enough top layer can be sanded 1-2 times, maybe more. I think it depends on which product you buy.

Reply to
trader4

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