Hardwood Floor

[[JiF][AARP]Tissueman]

My family room has wall to wall carpet over vinyl tile on a concrete slab. My wife would like a hardwood floor. Can you install a hardwood floor over vinyl tile? The tile is from the '50's and probably contains abestos so I really don't want disturb it. Anybody out there know about this stuff?

[[JiF]corn]

Hope this helps!
The second link pertains to asbestos tiles.
I personally don't know anything about floors

http://www.miragefloors.com/faq/5/en_47.html

http://www.oldhouseweb.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13185

[[JiF]Djsmg]

IMO,

I would try to remove the existing tiles as you will need to install a vapour barrier and plywood onto the concrete if you are going to go with hardwood flooring. I wouldn't want to install hardwood on a concrete floor as concrete is very porous and if there is no vapour barrier between the concrete and the new hardwood floor "wicking" from the floor into the wood can occur. Hardwood flooring does not do well in moist areas or with drastic changes in humidity, crowning/cupping can occur and generally ruin the finish of the floor. There are ways of creating a vapour barrier between the concrete and the wood and below is a link with information on how to do this.

http://www.primatech.ca/tn/tips2.htm

On concrete floors I would actually recommend going with a laminate floor as it is much easier to get a vapour barrier between the concrete and laminate (usually underpadding with a vapour barrier attached). It is free-floating (no screwing and glueing) and basically put together like big lego blocks. And laminate will do much better with changes in moisture and humidity. With laminates, quality varies to a great degree and I would avoid building box store for their products (Home Depot, Lowes, etc...) and go to a flooring specialty store as their products are generally a better grade.
Also with laminate, you would not need to remove the existing tiles as you can just lay the underpadding on top of the tile.

For laminate products I am a fan of Shaw flooring, their website is http://www.shawfloors.com/laminate-flooring/Laminates
I hope this helps.

[[JiF][AARP]Tissueman]

Good advice. Thanks. I'll probably go with laminate assuming my wife agrees. There is a place nearby that carries Shaw. We've done business with them before and they are good people.

[[JiF]Mentat]

I would want all the tile removed and 1inch insulation put down to provide a thermal break from the concrete. Lay down a new subfloor, T& G plywood and install a free floating manufactured laminate floor (no nails). Thickness and transitions to adjoining floors probably make this too much of a hassle. If your not worried about moisture and condensation from cold tile on slab to wood, carry on... just put down a layer of continuous sill sealer or comparable foam and vapor barrier, seal all joints with tape.

[[JiF][AARP]Tissueman]

I would want all the tile removed and 1inch insulation put down to provide a thermal break from the concrete. Lay down a new subfloor, T& G plywood and install a free floating manufactured laminate floor (no nails). Thickness and transitions to adjoining floors probably make this too much of a hassle. If your not worried about moisture and condensation from cold tile on slab to wood, carry on... just put down a layer of continuous sill sealer or comparable foam and vapor barrier, seal all joints with tape.

The room is pretty much isolated. There is one outside door that could handle a 2.5 to 3 inch increase in the floor height easily. The other door goes to the garage so stepping down isn't an issue there either. The stairs leading to the rest of the house would have a shorter first step. The ceiling is already low in that part of the house (probably about 88 inches with the carpet and tile removed). It would end up at about 86 inches. It sounds like it would raise the floor about 2 inches using your reco. That floor does get pretty cold in the winter so more insulation isn't a bad idea. I'm guessing you are talking 1 inch styrofoam?

[[JiF]KellysHero]

If it gets cold and you'll be using it a lot in the winter, might not be a bad idea to put in a radiant floor heating system.

[[JiF]Mentat]

I'm guessing you are talking 1 inch styrofoam?

You have to make sure it can take the compression of walking on it. Styrofoam will crush. I would dig out my spec files, but they are buried behind a wall of crap...

Quick search: http://www.xpsa.com/tech/standards.html (rigid cellular polystyrene)

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

http://www.dricore.com/en/eIndex.aspx

[Sir Die-a-lot]

I would dig out my spec files, but they are buried behind a wall of crap...

Isn't gyprock more convenient than crap for wall finishing ?

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

Well crap is usually just laying around, so it's a pretty cheap way to go.
If you look at the cost of the stuff before it was crap probably not.
Now that it is crap you save on gas by not having to get more stuff to turn into crap or going to the dump to get rid of the crap before you grow a new crop of crap.
All in all if you already have a pile of crap it can do the job nicely.

[[JiF][AARP]Tissueman]

http://www.dricore.com/en/eIndex.aspx

Cool product. I'll have to look into it.

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

I have no idea if it's any good. Just happened to see it or some clone of it at Lowe's.