How long to leave concrete floors to dry?

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poppy1

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Hi All

We are building a house direct labour and have been given lots of different advice on how long to wait before putting down our wooden floors after the concrete has poured. We poured 4 inches on the 01/10/07. And were told we had to wait and month for each inch poured.

Basically we are putting down solid wood floors in the upstairs bedrooms (ontop of ply), and downstairs in the living room and study (ontop of batons). The concrete floors in hall, kitchen and living room have been tiled a month ago. The heating has been on for the past 2 weeks, so how do we check if its safe to bring in the solid oak?? Can you buy a moisture tester in a local hardware store???
We have a chippy lined up to put the floors down the 2nd week of Dec, but need to have the wood there 3 weeks before.

Thanks for your comments

Poppy1
 
The only time we ever looked at putting wood floors in a new build, we did not need to the any of the thinking in this regard. The outlet we purchased the wood from (and who were also doing the laying) did their own moisture test before they would be happy to drop off the timber.

If you don't get the relevant answer here, or in earlier threads on this topic, talk to your supplier or chippy.
 
poppy1 said:
(ontop of batons).
Click to expand...
dont use battens. if you do you it will be the biggest mistake you ever made.
the floor will sound hollow from the start and over time as the wood expands and contracts, it will stretch the nails and then itll start squeaking and creaking. it will drive you mad and there is really no fix.
the best way to lay it is to glue the boards together over foam. and use floor clamps to hold the boards tight together while they are drying.
 
a quick test for presence of moisture in floor,

place a full newpaper on the floor in its folded for sale form.

place a cement block on top of the paper

check 12 hours later, the paper wil be dry or it will be limp and damp.

I had wooden semi soild floor layed on foam at same time as Marmolemum? tiles in hall.
Had to have hall tiles repalced due to damp from slab, oak floor is fine.

the 1 inch per month is also a good guide.

If you decided to delay, wash cement floor with a weak PVA/ polybond solution , it will not stop drying but will keep dust down.
 
id never seen that before but i dont think its much use. compared to ordinary foam
certainly a lot dearer
sometimes you need to slide boards into place under doorframes etc
you still need to glue individual boards to achieve spillproof surface
solid boards still need clamping as they are never 100% straight
 
we're in the same boat poppy1 and I was just about to post the question when I saw you had posted the same issue. The guy is coming to pour our downstairs floor end of this week. Upstairs (on concrete slab) was poured over 2 months ago and seems fine. Of course - we are hoping (but won't be end of world) to be in for Xmas. He suggested adding an additive to the concrete which 'dries it out faster' and can lay whatever on it in 8 days!!??? I am dubious. Any thoughts????
 
xt40 said:
id never seen that before but i dont think its much use. compared to ordinary foam
Click to expand...

How do you know since
1- you did not even know about it
2- and you have therefore never used it.

It is of as much use as it has been designed for.

Signed: A satisfied user of this product.
 
i formed my opinion
1 - after you brought it to my attention
2 i have a lot of experience laying and living with wood floors and feel therefore qualified to express an opinion about what i feel would/wouldnt work.
 
xt40 said:
feel therefore qualified to express an opinion about what i feel would/wouldnt work.
Click to expand...

Within getting into an argument, and in an attempt of being constructive , what make you think that this product "would not work"?
 
for click laminates such a product is an unnecessary waste of time and for real wood floors see my original post.
 
xt40 said:
for click laminates such a product is an unnecessary waste
Click to expand...
we agree on that, it has been designed for use with solid (or engineered) wooden floor , which is the type of flooring mentioned in this thread, not on laminates (that are normally floated, do not required glueing as they click)
The point we are discussing is not as to whether it is a waste or not, but why you think it does not work?


xt40 said:
and for real wood floors see my original post.
Click to expand...

your op does not explain to AAM readers why you think "Elastilon" does not work...
There are few other threads in which "qualified" (as in their job is to install floors) contributors do believe Elastilon is a product that serves its purpose very well, e.g. works.

So i am eager to hear why in your opinion "it would not work"...
 
ill say it again one last time
real wood boards are seldom if ever straight
the 2 recognised ways of fitting them are with a portanailer which hammers the boards together and simultaneously puts a nail at 45degs into the tongue to hold them. see my first post in this thread for reasons why i dont like this method

the other way is to glue each board and use flooring clamps to straighten and hold the boards together while the glue sets thereby achieving a gap free spillproof tight joint

the common element to both methods is that they compress theboards together using a high sustained or sudden pressure. your sticky-back plastic method neither seals the joints nor clamps the boards together in the first place. i could see its use for sticking carpet tiles etc or maybe parquet tiles at a stretch but not a proper real wood plank floor.
thats my opinion. if you disagree, thats fine but i suggest you find someone else to pick an argument with. im finished replying to you on this matter

ps from the manufacturers brochure

"suitable for engineered hardwood or laminate flooring on or below grade"


 
OP - if you're not using a dehumidifier, then 1 month per inch of screed thickness. i.e., 3 inches (norm) = 3 months. Otherwise use a moisture meter.
 
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