How to Attach Stringers to a Cement Floor

Moisture travels through concrete. A hardwood floor installed directly on a concrete slab will eventually bow up and need to be replaced. To prevent this, you will need to install the hardwood floor with wood stringers, also called sleepers. The stringers are set into moisture-resistant asphalt mastic. These stringers become the nailing surface for installing the finished floor. For extra protection against moisture from the concrete slab, put down a sheet of thick plastic on top of the stringers. The plastic will help keep the moisture from the concrete away from your hardwood floor.

Broom
Asphalt primer
Paint roller
Asphalt mastic
Notched trowel
Kiln-dried, 2-by-4-inch lumber
6-mil plastic sheeting

Instructions

- 1
  Sweep the concrete floor thoroughly with a broom.
- 2
  Apply a coat of asphalt primer to the concrete floor with a paint roller. Allow the primer to dry thoroughly, following the manufacturer's recommended drying time.
- 3
  Use a trowel to apply a thin layer of asphalt mastic perpendicular to the direction the wood flooring will be installed.
- 4
  Embed a 2-by-4 inch stringer into the layer of mastic. Continue setting random lengths of 2-by-4s in this first row the entire length of the room.
- 5
  Set the next row of stringers 6 to 7 inches away from the first row, following the same methods used in Steps 3 and 4. Repeat, setting stringer rows every 6 to 7 inches until the entire floor is finished.
- 6
  Lay down a sheet of 6-mil polyethylene plastic film over the entire floor, including the stringers. Put the plastic down loosely so it doesn't tear when the flooring is installed. Overlap any cut edges on top of the stringers and extend the plastic all the way to the baseboards of the room.
- 7
  Install the hardwood flooring, using the 2-by-4 inch stringers as a nailing surface.

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