# Rustic Flooring over concrete



## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

we have needed to do something with out floors for a while and while visiting with a friend I feel in love with her whole house and especially with her floors.
They have 1x12 pine shelf board laid down and nailed to their wood subfloor stained and put a coat of poly down and it looks great 30 years later, though 5 kids, numerous dogs and large family gatherings so to say I am intrigued is an understatement. Pergo type stuff just doesnt seem like its going to hold up with my 5 kids and numerous dogs and this is actually affordable (.85 cents per foot).

My trouble is the slab, we are thinking since they put quality sticky tile down that left there would serve as a moisture barrier, or does it need to come up (not easy) and one of those foamy type stuff you put down for pergo type floors. 
I dont know how to go about nailing or screwing the boards the concrete without busting the wood up but dont have the space available to do much of a sub floor.

Any help would be great, really really hoping we can get this figured out and I can get my "dream" floor.


----------



## TrexTrev (Sep 12, 2013)

So you say this is some sort of glued down pergo? If it is laminate flooring it should be floating and taking it up shouldnt be hard. As for proper installation of hardwood over concrete. You should have a continuous six mill plastic, then go over with a three quarter ply wood as a sleeper to nail the flooring into. This is really about the only way to go about it. Your other option is a vinyl floor similar to a floating floor that can be installed on slab and has high durability, as well as looks a lot like wood.


----------



## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

No, I dont want to do any type of pergo flooring, what I am trying to do is put 1x12 boards down.
I was thinking that the tile would act as the plastic would so can it serve that purpose or do I need to rip it up and put the plastic down?

How would you anchor the plywood down?


----------



## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Cannon_Farms said:


> No, I dont want to do any type of pergo flooring, *what I am trying to do is put 1x12 boards down.*
> How would you anchor the plywood down?


You have a hard road to hoe. Your friends board flooring isn't nailed JUST to the plywood ( it wouldn't hold )...it's nailed also into the floor joists under the plywood wherever possible.....and the plywood is well nailed to the joists.

To put board flooring on a concrete subfloor, you'd have to install some 2x2 (pressure treated) "sleepers" on the floor first, then install a plywood subfloor, then your board floors. Anchoring those sleepers is a real trick....you either use a Ramset nail gun (that uses blank .22cal loads to fire a REALLY hard nail thru the wood into the concrete.....expensive, LOUD, and limited success if the concrete is old....old concrete is HARD concrete ), or you go thru and drill thru the sleeper into the concrete with a hammer drill, masonry bit(S), and use Tapcons or some similar concrete fastener.....again, expensive, time consuming, etc.

BUT you're also looking at raising the floor a minimum of 2.5".....and likely more, with the sleeper, plywood and the 3/4" board floor.

There is a whole world of engineered HARDWOOD floating floor options out there, (NOT PERGO.....which is just plastic over high density cardboard ) made just for this situation....concrete floors. Yes, they are more expensive than 85 cents a foot for #3 pine shelving....but not more expensive than the pine PLUS the work/expense you'd have to do to properly put it down !


----------



## farmgal (Nov 12, 2005)

I think if you took 2 x 4's and built a frame on their side, screw that in the concrete with concrete screw thingies,(lol) then screw the 1 x 12's to it, would work. This would only be 3 inches total height. Make sure the 1 x 12's are very dry and let them sit in your house for a long time to acclimate for your homes temperature and moisture. Make sure you face the heart wood in the right direction. I think you can do it and it would look very cool. I saw a house like this, looked nice. 

You are very right, Pergo is terrible. None of those fake wood floors really stand up to real time use on a farm!


----------



## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

why would it be a bad idea to lay the plastic, then just put down and secure plywood without the frame for the sub floor?
I cant raise the floor too much or my appliances wont be removable . 
I have a feeling I am stuck with sticky tile  with my budget


----------



## Travis in Louisiana (May 14, 2002)

You can make a FLOATING floor out of 3/4 plywood. It does not have to be screwed to the CONCRETE floor. Take plywood and lay out on the floor. Then take plywood, lay 90 degrees to the plywood you just layed. This will cause it to overlap the plywood sheets. Screw the two plywoods together. The two plywoods would be 1.5 inches thick. Your 1x12 boards are going to be 3/4 to 1 inch thick, that you NAIL to the plywood. I cannot think of any reason you cannot put the plywood over the exsisting STICKEY floor tiles. Your concrete slab should have plastic in it to keep moister from WEEPING up through the slab.


----------



## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

My BIL put a lot of the pine floors down, I do not like them. He has used 1"x6", 1"x8", 1"x12" and mixed some up. They always shrink and leave cracks that collect dirt. The wood is very soft and a chair leaves big dents, easily. I have used ponderosa pine floor boards, T&G, stained with 3 coats poly, no shrinkage. Much harder wood.

What ever you put down make sure it is anchored good or you will have a squeaky floor

Have you looked at the new vinyl floors, wood grain, even textured....James


----------



## TrexTrev (Sep 12, 2013)

i have installed many floors like Travis is mentioning. It is a method that works well, i would still put down plastic because you never know if they put plastic under the slab or not and the tile itself wouldn't be sufficient.


----------



## jhambley (Nov 21, 2004)

You could use something like this:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_173869-21607-0001_


----------



## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

This is what I did to an old concrete floored carriage house. I put down treated wood sleepers all around the perimeter of the floor and then 1' apart across the floor, no nails, just construction adhesive. I put foil lined rigid insulation between the sleepers. Then glued and nailed the tongue and groove flooring directly to the sleepers....James


----------



## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

doing a sub floor just isnt going to work, out new thought to run by yall is doing the wood again but making it a floating type floor using these to tie the wood together http://www.homedepot.com/p/Simpson-Strong-Tie-3-in-x-6-in-Mending-Plate-MP36/100374920 we are going to use some good plastic, between it, the tile and the sealed floor I think we might not have as much of a issue with moisture. Anyone have pros or cons on different polyurethane coatings? we are thinking three coats around the whole board and using the super fast dry stuff will be best unless something else is advised. Yes, I am being stubborn about giving this up. I thought the sub floor was going to work but it just raises the floor too much causing too many other problems


----------



## Travis in Louisiana (May 14, 2002)

I don't think these are going to work. No floor is perfectly level and with the walking on the floor, the boards will eventually work their self up off these metal type ties. You would do better, tongue and grove the floor boards and glueing them together with a very good glue. But still, I don't think glueing the boards would work either. You are going to need a good base to attach the floor boards to. You might could glue the boards directly to the cement with a GOOD glue or contact cement, but you would have to remove the sticky tiles. Glueing to the sticky tiles might would later see the tiles working loose from the cement, thus causing a POPPING sound when you walk on the floor. I am no expert, so others may have a better idea, but I do believe you will need some type of base to attach the floor boards to. You could take a small area and try your idea with the metal ties or any other idea and just see how it works out over a good amount of time.


----------



## FarmChix (Mar 3, 2013)

You could also do a layer of stamped concrete. They have various patterns, including the look of a plank floor.


----------

