How to Install Engineered Hardwood Flooring on Concrete

Lead Image for How to Install Engineered Hardwood Flooring on Concrete
  • 16-48 hours
  • Advanced
  • 2,000-25,000
What You'll Need
Moisture meter
Proper wood adhesive
Trowel
Saw
Combination square
Tape
Buckets
Tapping block
Hammer or rubber mallet
Pull bar
What You'll Need
Moisture meter
Proper wood adhesive
Trowel
Saw
Combination square
Tape
Buckets
Tapping block
Hammer or rubber mallet
Pull bar

Engineered hardwood flooring has quickly become one of the most popular flooring options in the world today. With engineered hardwood flooring, you get a real wood floor with more versatility. This allows you to glue it down to a concrete floor and not have to worry about it coming up again as you do with solid wood. You get the beautiful look of hardwood in a lot more places than you previously could without the cost.

Installing engineered hardwood is something that many people can do by themselves. It is not complicated, but mainly just time-consuming. You do the same thing over and over again until your floor is installed. Here are the basics of installing an engineered hardwood floor.

Assess the Subfloor

The first thing that you need to do is assess the condition of the concrete that you are installing on. Sometimes concrete can be uneven and possibly contain high levels of moisture. You need to remedy both problems before you can glue engineered hardwood on top of it.

Use your moisture meter to judge the moisture content of the slab. This will allow you to decide whether or not to install the wood yet, based on the manufacturer's recommendation. If the floor is uneven, you will need to level it out with some floor patch.

Pull the Baseboards or Quarter Round

Using your pull bar, you can get in and take the baseboards or quarter round off. You need to leave an expansion gap around the outside of the floor since it is a natural product.

Spread the Adhesive

Take the trowel that is recommended by the manufacturer and spread some adhesive on the concrete. Most of the time, you will want to spread out only about 3 feet at a time of adhesive. You do not want to spread too much out too soon so it will not dry out. It also becomes difficult not to get in the glue if you put too much out.

Lay the Boards

Start in the corner of a room and start working out. In most cases, you will want to lay the boards with the light. It typically looks better after it is installed. Lay the board and press it down into the glue with some force. Lay another one on the top of the board and lock them together. Press them towards each other and down to make sure that they stick. Do a full row down the side of the room and then start another row beside it. When you get to the other wall, cut the boards to fit with the saw.

Keep Boards Together

As you do a few rows, it is a good idea to tape the boards together and put some buckets of water on top of them. This will keep weight on the boards and keep them together as they dry.