# Subfloor

*Also called: substrate*

**What the finished floor is installed onto — plywood over joists, a concrete slab, or a radiant assembly — and the thing that determines the installation method.**

The substrate is identified before anything else is decided. Method, product construction and moisture protocol all follow from it.

A method proposed before the substrate has been named is a guess, and it is criterion 2.1 of the framework failing.

## Related terms

- [Nail-down](https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/nail-down)
- [Glue-down](https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/glue-down)
- [Floating](https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/floating)
- [Radiant heat](https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/radiant-heat)
- [Moisture content](https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/moisture-content)


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## Provenance

- Canonical URL: https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/subfloor
- Publisher: Ecowoods Inc., Toronto & the GTA
- Contact: (647) 244-5156 · services@ecowoods.ca
- Defined in: https://ecowoods.ca/papers/toronto-hardwood-climate-moisture-protocol#method-and-substrate
- Citation guide: https://ecowoods.ca/ai.txt

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