Solid Wood Floor - Installation

[bigalxyz]

Hello forum,

After a long time I've found a solid wood flooring product that I'm happy with.

Small-ish pieces of wood, about 12cm wide and typically 80-100cm long. Tongue & groove fitting.

Unfortunately the manufacturer's instructions re: installation are confusing and ambiguous. Speaking to their customer services people is not proving very useful - they don't seem to know very much and don't seem particularly inclined to make an effort to help.

Need to lay onto a concrete subfloor which has no damp problems.

As far as I can tell I have two options ie:

(i) lay as a floating floor on top of underlay
(ii) glue down directly onto the concrete

From what I can gather, the floating method is quicker & easier, but the glue down method is likely to produce a more solid result - fewer issues with movement, cupping, etc.

Is this a fair summary of my options? Are there any other considerations here that I should be aware of? I'm minded to go for the glue down option if the results are better - I plan to be here for the long term so I don't mind investing some extra effort up front for a better quality finish.

Would be grateful for any thoughts, comments, advice, etc.

Thanks!
Alan.

 

[crazydaze]

The glue option will give a significantly better finish, however you will need to screed the floor before fitting, the subfloor needs to billiard table smooth, floating the floor will result in gapping at different times of the year etc, it's not recommended. If you could source a suitable Engineered Floor, it will do everything that the solid will as a stick down install but you can float with all the confidence in the world and it's just as hard wearing, visually there should be little if any difference if you choose the right floor.

 

[dazlight]

You shouldn't float solid wood
So if you have it you are best glue down