Erico
Member
I'm remodeling my kitchen - including replacing the whole room full of ceramic tile with maple flooring (new ceramic tile will go tile near the sink/dish washer).
This is a third floor condo in a 100 year old Chicago building.
I was expecting to find plywood under the ceramic seeing as though this floor was done in the late 80s or thereabouts (I didn't own it then) and that seemed to be the "cheap way" to do it back then. For instance, the bathroom had plywood under ceramic. It came up rather easily with a chipping gun.
Much to my surprise upon removing cabinets, there is a layer of concrete under the tile in the kitchen.
I haven't gotten in to demo'ing the entire floor yet so I'm not sure if this was only poured in a low part of the kitchen or the entire floor. It seems to be at least an inch thick based on the portions I can see under the cabinets and in to the adjoining laundry room.
I'm assuming a couple scenarios where this concrete would have been used.
1.) as a leveler in only the low spots.
2.) a leveler under the entire kitchen
Either way, wood is going to have to be place over at least a partial concrete floor.
It looks like the 3/4 hardwood I wanted is out and I will have to do an engineered product. Height wasn't an issue as the kitchen floor was about an inch below the dining room hardwood. My plan was to screw/glue a new clean layer of 1/4 plywood down and then 3/4 hard wood.
I guess my main question is what moisture issues do I have to deal with with above grade concrete - and can I glue engineered flooring directly to above grade concrete or will it need a vapor barrier. I'm really trying to avoid a "floating" floor.
Also, there may be a height issue where I may need to place a layer of at least 3/8th or 1/2 inch plywood down. Can I glue and tap-con that? And then nail/glue engineered? 3/4 hardwood would be out at that point due to height issues.
Obviously the manufacturers recommendations will be followed for whatever floor product I chose but I need a little lesson in hardwood/engineered wood over ABOVE grade concrete.
This is a third floor condo in a 100 year old Chicago building.
I was expecting to find plywood under the ceramic seeing as though this floor was done in the late 80s or thereabouts (I didn't own it then) and that seemed to be the "cheap way" to do it back then. For instance, the bathroom had plywood under ceramic. It came up rather easily with a chipping gun.
Much to my surprise upon removing cabinets, there is a layer of concrete under the tile in the kitchen.
I haven't gotten in to demo'ing the entire floor yet so I'm not sure if this was only poured in a low part of the kitchen or the entire floor. It seems to be at least an inch thick based on the portions I can see under the cabinets and in to the adjoining laundry room.
I'm assuming a couple scenarios where this concrete would have been used.
1.) as a leveler in only the low spots.
2.) a leveler under the entire kitchen
Either way, wood is going to have to be place over at least a partial concrete floor.
It looks like the 3/4 hardwood I wanted is out and I will have to do an engineered product. Height wasn't an issue as the kitchen floor was about an inch below the dining room hardwood. My plan was to screw/glue a new clean layer of 1/4 plywood down and then 3/4 hard wood.
I guess my main question is what moisture issues do I have to deal with with above grade concrete - and can I glue engineered flooring directly to above grade concrete or will it need a vapor barrier. I'm really trying to avoid a "floating" floor.
Also, there may be a height issue where I may need to place a layer of at least 3/8th or 1/2 inch plywood down. Can I glue and tap-con that? And then nail/glue engineered? 3/4 hardwood would be out at that point due to height issues.
Obviously the manufacturers recommendations will be followed for whatever floor product I chose but I need a little lesson in hardwood/engineered wood over ABOVE grade concrete.