Flooring For Concrete Subfloor

Ceramic tile for ceramic tile nail cement boards to the concrete floor with concrete nails so they won t move then apply mastic tile and grout.

Flooring for concrete subfloor.

The only noncombustible structural cementitious panel manufactured in the united states. Measure and mark the center of all four walls at floor level. Then vacuum the floor with a wet dry vac or sweep it with a broom. Install cork flooring over concrete as long as the floor is level and clean.

Other flooring materials such as cork carpet or laminate must have an underlayment installed before the flooring is laid. Ceramic and porcelain tile and various types of vinyl and linoleum flooring can be laid directly over concrete subfloors. Plywood panels should be set down with 1 8 inch gaps between sheets. To begin you ll need two layers of 3 8 inch minimum cd exposure 1 plywood subfloor panels cdx 4 foot by 8 foot sheets.

Roughness or irregularities in the basement s concrete floor are likely to show through in the vinyl floor. Concrete expands and contracts and that type of movement can also crack the tiles and the grout. Engineered wood flooring 4 7 sq ft. If you feel that despite all precautions the basement floor may get wet put down 2 by 4 inch sleepers cover with plastic and then install the plywood as the subfloor.

Do not fasten and leave 3 4 of an inch of space between the wall and plywood. Structural panel concrete subfloor is a cured in factory panel that is noncombustible inorganic mold moisture termite resistant and dimensionally stable floor assembly suitable for many floor finishes. Make a final check with the level to be sure all the high and low spots are gone. First position the plywood layer with its edges parallel to the wall.

However you re not out of the woods. If you re aiming for a high end finished basement room with the look and feel of real wood flooring there s good news. Cork has been used as flooring for centuries and was popularized by the architect frank lloyd wright in his pennsylvania homes. When installing a ceramic tile floor on a concrete subfloor you don t have to worry about flexing as long as the concrete slab is at least 1 1 8 inch thick which most slabs are.

For a concrete subfloor you should install the plank with the sight lines of the floor. Before you install file flooring follow the directions above for fixing high spots and low spots in a wood or concrete subfloor. Sheet vinyl has another limitation as well. Tile and stone flooring can be installed directly over concrete but most other flooring materials require some kind of underlayment and or a moisture barrier laid over the concrete.

That s right installation can be challenging. Typical sight lines run parallel to the longest wall but each home is different.