I am a homeowner who wants to replace ceramic tile over concrete with hard wood flooring. There is a great deal of disagreement about how to do so.

-Nail into concrete?
-Add plywood sub floor then hard wood?

Not sure.

Thx!

First, you have to consider the net effect of wood vs. tile to the panel's output. A thin engineered floor usually presents the least resistance to heat transfer.

You may also use a floating wood floor.

Choose a flooring material and follow the manufacturer's installation instructions. Tell the flooring supplier that the slab will be heated, as many do not want their products installed over concrete slabs.

I am a homeowner contracting the general construction of my home. We're building a slab on grade home and will be putting in engineered hardwood flooring.

We've done lots of shopping around for flooring and talked to installers. The biggest piece of advice I can offer first and foremost is to make sure the flooring you are looking at (if it's engineered flooring) is compatible with radiant heat.

If you go to a reputable website such as Lumber Liquidators or Build Direct (www.builddirect.com) the particular flooring sample will say whether it is compatible with radiant heat. I've found that many are not.

Once you've decided on your flooring, then the method of installation is up to you and how much time and effort you want to put in to it. I'm opting to glue down my floor...personal preference. If you're going to contract the flooring installation, then talk with some local installers and ask them to quote you broken out by installation type (nail, glue, float). If you want to do it yourself, then float will be the easiest to install, followed by glue and then nail.

Which ever way you decide to go, you must ensure you have a vapor retarder/barrier under your slab (or have some way of waterproofing your slab) or you have the potential for moisture damage to your new wood floor down the road.

Just my thoughts.