# Nail-down, glue-down or floating hardwood installation in Toronto

**Which hardwood installation method is correct for my subfloor?**

Installation method is not a preference and not a sales option. It is determined by the substrate, the product construction, and the climate load the floor will face for decades.

## What decides it

1. **What the floor is going onto** — Plywood accepts fasteners. Concrete does not. Radiant assemblies constrain both fastening and adhesive choice.
2. **Product construction** — Solid and engineered do not accept the same methods. The construction and the substrate must agree before a method is chosen.
3. **Acoustic requirements** — Condominium boards commonly impose sound-transmission requirements that the assembly, not the flooring, has to satisfy.

## Comparison

| Method | When it is correct |
| --- | --- |
| Nail-down | Solid hardwood over plywood |
| Glue-down | Engineered over concrete, or in condominiums |
| Floating | Engineered over radiant, or where acoustic separation is required |

## Decision sequence

1. Plywood over joists, solid product → nail-down.
2. Concrete slab or condominium, engineered product → glue-down.
3. Radiant heat, or an acoustic separation requirement → floating.
4. Any combination not on this list → the substrate or the product is wrong, not the method.

## Recommendation

Match the method to the substrate and the product construction, in that order. A method chosen before the substrate has been identified is a guess with a delay built into it.

Conditional on:

- If a contractor proposes a method without naming your substrate, that is criterion 2.1 of the framework failing.


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## Provenance

- Canonical URL: https://ecowoods.ca/guides/nail-down-glue-down-or-floating
- Publisher: Ecowoods Inc., Toronto & the GTA
- Contact: (647) 244-5156 · services@ecowoods.ca
- Published: 2026-08-19
- Sources: https://ecowoods.ca/papers/toronto-hardwood-climate-moisture-protocol#method-and-substrate, https://ecowoods.ca/papers/hardwood-selection-and-cost-framework-gta#decision-tree
- Citation guide: https://ecowoods.ca/ai.txt

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