Cork or Bamboo Flooring – Can I Install Over Radiant Heat?

Q: I am interested in installing cork or bamboo flooring on a heated concrete floor. Is this possible?
Rick
A: It is possible to install either of these floors over radiant heat, but certain details need to be kept in mind.
We’ll start with bamboo. Certain bamboo floors can be installed over radiant head, but keep in mind several of them have very stringent requirements. Your best bet for bamboo would be a floating bamboo floor as these are engineered and are better suited for radiant heat. Springwood makes a great click-together floating engineered line which can work very well over a heated concrete subfloor. Some of the solid bamboo floors or other glue-down bamboo floors can work over radiant heat, but typically the require installation by certified professionals using only specific adhesives.
For cork floors these can work over radiant heat, but keep in mind that cork has a natural insulation factor to it. This works out to a rate of roughly 3-5% reduction in heat output per 3mm of cork. For glue down cork floors, this is pretty simple as the floors are pure cork, but with a floating cork floor you will also have to account for the core board being used and any underlayment you install. This sounds like a bit, but in the end it turns out to be very little change in heat and I know of a few cork floor which have done very well over radiant heat subfloors.
You will have a bit more ease on the DIY side here using a cork floor, as the requirements to keep a warranty in tact over radiant heat for bamboo are fairly strict, but you do lose a bit of heat out put. Overall the choice becomes a matter of which floor you would rather have in your home, as both can work in this situation.