I currently have tile over a concrete floor in my family room and of course the floor is very cold. am i able to put vapour barrier, insulation, then a floating hardwood floor...or do i need to build a sub floor over the insulation then put the hardwood on top?

the only issue i have for height is there is a two piece bathroom off the family room. i plan on raising the toilet and vanity to accomadate the height of the insulation and hardwood.

i would like to stay away from radiant heating due to the monthly costs.

 

Hi Rob and welcome to the forum. Slab construction most likely has a VB under the slab already, possibly some insulation as well. The problem is, the cold you feel on the floor is most likely not coming from under the floor. Since warm air rises, it is difficult to heat a flat floor by convection. The heat rises and any cold that enters the house falls to the floor. Your new floor will work, but address the rest of the heat loss to make it work better. Here is a link. Go to the bottom and click on "slabs" and it illustrates exactly what you propose. BSI-003: Concrete Floor Problems —

Bud

 

one problem is lack of heating vent in the area. there isnt much i can do about that. There is also a sliding door leading outside which doesnt help things. i did assume most of the coldness was coming from the concrete, i guess not.

thanks for the info!

 

If that's an all glass sliding door, it is probably your biggest source of cold air. Smoke tests on picture windows and glass doors show cold air cascading off them. Between air leaking around the slider and the r-3 glass, they are like leaving a window partially open.

As a test, cover the entire door with a sheet of plastic.

Bud

 

Yes i will try and seal the door and see how much of a difference that makes. Its an old door which seems to be sealed up nicely and functions properly but is due for replacement.

Any ideas how much of a difference insulting the floors is going to make?