Q: My handyman told me that there is a new type of installation for hardwood floors – click – no glue, no nails and that the finish is strong and durable.
Is that true? Is that option now available for hardwood installation on a concrete base? If so, is that type installation limited to certain types of wood? Thanks.
A: Your handyman is correct, there have been quite a few innovations to hardwood flooring in the last couple of decades, one of which being click-together engineered hardwood floors. The selection of engineered lines featuring a click-together system is somewhat limited, but a couple of them are very well done, namely Kahrs and Saso. Kahrs Woodloc is one of the most well known click-together hardwood flooring systems in the world, and several of their collections are some of the best floors available. Saso has one of the most user friendly locking systems in the industry along with a very nice wear layer and cross-ply substrate, making their floors both easy to install and built to last.
As far as installing over concrete is concerned, this can be done with all of the floating hardwood floors which click-together, but keep in mind you still MUST have a moisture barrier as well as underlayment in order to do the job. Due to these floors being engineered you have no species limitations for installing over concrete, but make sure you are setting your own expectations properly. This means you should not expect a softer species (like American Walnut) to be super dent resistant.
One suggestion I do have is to ensure you get a good, dense underlayment under a floating hardwood floor. 6mm cork is the best bet as it removes virtually all of the “spring” out of floating floors, making them feel like traditional solid wood floors while also reducing a good portion of the noise. Cheaper underlayments will cause you to feel more movement in the floor under foot, although this is typically within tolerance, it can be a real hassle if you do not properly level out your subfloor.
