Hardwood Floor and Radiant Heat

Q: Can a 3/4″ hardwood floor be installed on a subfloor that is heated by
radiant heat??
Thank-you, in advance for your response.
Kathy Farmer
A: As a general rule solid hardwood floors and radiant heating systems do not match. Although this may be a downer when it comes to the concept of that dream floor, let me explain why you should not put a 3/4″ solid over a radiant floor and then suggest alternatives.
The reason why you do not put a 3/4″ solid over radiant heated subfloors is a matter of expansion and contraction. Solid wood moves much more than any other type of floor and because of this it is heavily susceptible to expansion and contraction due to temperature. Wood flooring is still a natural product and as such, it will expand due to heat and contract due to cold. This being said, more direct heating methods like radiant heat cause solid floors to expand quite a bit after installation, which leads to buckling. Even after proper acclimation this can still be a concern, as the floor is forced to absorb a lot of heat to radiate it into your room.
Don’t fret though, you can still have a great looking wood floor, you just want to look into a high quality engineered floor. Find an engineered product with at least 5 plies and thicker ply and species layers. This way you can have a great look wood floor that is suited to radiant heat.
Why engineered? Glad you asked!
Engineered product are made using a cross-ply lamination technique. This means the the substrate underneath the species layer of your floor is a criss-cross of wood layers which helps to naturally keep check for expansion and contraction.
When looking into engineered floors, find a floor that is able to be installed as a floating floor as these types of floors tend to be far more stable and are more suited to a radiant heat system.