A friend wants to install exotic wood floors in his basement(Jatoba or kempas). How does these cherry spicies react to climate , since i live in Montreal, Canada there are a lot of up and down. He does not want to build a subfloor by using 2x4s because he will lose 4" height. I think radiant heating under the floor is out of the question also.We are thinking of installing premaid subfloors(24"x24" at1" thick pieces of ply with insulation under it.) So all we have to do is seal the concrete slab under, put our 6 mil. plastic, the premaid subfloor and then the exotic floor.Would engineered floors help even more. Thanks for any idea given

I have a couple questions: - Does anyone have any experience with Premium Green brand bamboo flooring? I am looking at using it in my dining room and kitchen, I've gotten samples which seem to hold up OK to some punishment, but there are definately scratches and dings from my dropping things on them as expected with most flooring. - Can I install directly over a linoleum floor without pulling it? I am planning to do a floating floor installation and would like to avoid having to pull it up. - Can I install a floating floor directly over a concrete slab? I know it has very low moisture, but I am unsure if the wood should be in direct contact with the concrete. Thanks in advance.