Cancork I nominate you for best poster of the year! Mojoro, we have an installer that we work with in South Florida. I would be happy to put you in touch with him if you like. He uses the high end urethane adhesive that Cancork suggested for his installations. Here is a shot of a floor his team installed for us last year.

White Oak Rubio Monocoat White Boca Raton Florida · More Info

Hi Cancork. Huge thank you for taking the time to answer. It is so nice to get an unbiased opinion from an expert; I really appreciate the detailed explanation. Sounds like the floating floor would be the best option, and one that I might not have realized until too late. I am curious - does it tend to be more or less $ than the glue or the sleeper subfloor? Oak & Board, does your guy install floating floors as well? Thank you for the offer...

I am sure he can. They have a large successful operation in Boynton Beach.

@mojoro...You are welcome. Sometimes it just takes a bit of description to get the imagination going. You are probably "in luck" as many engineered hardwoods (not all...but most) are designed for both "floating" (glue tongue and groove) and "fixed" (nail/staple/glue) installations. Check the installation instructions for your chosen floor to see if they "allow" the floating installation. If they do, breathe easy and go with what suits you best!

Good luck. I hope the floor you have chosen/ordered is allowed to be floated. That would make it a very easy solution.

If Oak & Broad has a contact in Florida, I would highly recommend working with them. The product Oak & Broad produces is magnificent. They don't "do" junk. If O&B suggests someone, they've got to be good!

Thank you Cancork. Working on Saturdays too as usual I see :-D

I am going with Duchateau Riverstone Seine. After looking at lots of different manufacturers and products, I came back around to the one I originally loved. Great customer service, too. I spoke with the distributor and got his 2 cents as well - it can be floated or glued. He echoed what Cancork said - recommended a good glue like Bostik if we go that route, but floating is a wonderful option as well. He said the only thing to be aware of re: floating - a potentially "hollow" sound when it's walked on.

@Oak & Broad...just a little bored at home before heading for a few days R&R...so I'm lurking on my favourite sites.

@mojoro...the hollow sound can be mitigated by: A) Excellent subfloor prep (getting the slab super flat) and B) a high quality underlay/pad that will absorb the sound = remove the hollowness. Quiet walk is one of the few underlay products that I liken to cork. It is a fibrous product with vapour barrier integrated into the product. So long as your hardwood accepts it (it is allowed) the Quiet Walk is a great option to reduce hollowness.

Thanks again, Cancork. I appreciate being able to make an informed decision from your unbiased opinion and first-hand experience. It's nice that for once the more economical options are superior to the pricey one (subfloor/nailing). Ok - so now I'm curious - are you guys (Cancork and Oak&Broad) acquaintances in "real life", or did you "meet" on houzz advice columns? Ha - or both?

Cancork lives in Canada I believe. I live in Atlanta. We have never met except on Houzz to help users with their projects. Both of us have been on here for hears though so have corresponded many times.

@mojoro - Oak & Broad and I are "houzz mates". We've discovered that we both demand "excellence" in flooring. Neither one of us are looking to do things on the "cheap" or looking to cut corners. Birds of a feather and all that.

We've exchanged some ideas (I've picked his brain, he's picked mine) off of houzz and discovered that we both have a passion for what we do. We support each other because of the level of professionalism we "read" from each other's posts. I try NOT to sell "cork" on this website...and O&B will only offer up his product if the local/requirements suggest it (and the poster is showing huge levels of frustration re: local installers).

We are professionals that try to help in as unbiased a way as possible. If someone asks about cork, I'll go to town on the subject...but other than that, I try to stick to being "unbiased" as possible. That's what being "professional" is all about.

Glad we could help with your dilemma. Keep us posted. We always love to hear when things work out and good luck.

Thanks again Cancork and Oak & Broad. I found a wonderful source for the Duchateau - someone who has been in business a long while and gave me a very competitive price and lots of thoughtful advice. He also said that floating is a good idea, and explained how we will get the wood and the adjacent limestone to be flush. Also offered to store the Duchateau if we are not ready to install it when it arrives. I like doing my homework, then finding good people, and then relaxing..... You guys rock! Thanks

Resurrecting - trying to save some money on a potential engineered floor installation. Building a three-story home in Houston. Concrete slab on the ground floor. Why can't the second and third floors be nailed vs. glued? Sounds like gluing is super expensive. My floor budget per builder is $9/ sq ft. After glue and labor, I have $3/sq ft ($3/ft for glue and $3/ft for labor) to work with - so, then would obviously go over budget by far since the cheapest nice floor I've found is about $5.50 and up from there. I guess I'm okay with gluing the first floor, but then why can't I save the glue on the second and third and nail down? HELP! Looking for advice.