Engineered flooring with a less stable wear layer species such as hickory beech and maple are not normally best suited over radiant heat.
Best engineered wood flooring for radiant heat.
Certain solid hardwood floors are appropriate as well.
Plainsawn wood will move more than quartersawn especially when it is over 4 inches wide.
But if you do wish to put radiant heating under solid hardwood use quarter sawn wood flooring instead of plain sawn wood flooring.
The heating element should be embedded within a sleeper system subfloor under a traditional subfloor or embedded within concrete.
Engineered wood flooring is in general more dimensionally stable than solid wood flooring.
For examples look at our northern lights collection.
Engineered wood flooring works better for radiant heating than under solid hardwood.
However not all engineered wood flooring is recommended or appropriate for use over radiant heating systems.
Engineered flooring works well over radiant heat because its unique plywood construction creates greater stability as each wood layer is positioned perpendicular to the other thereby resisting movement from environmental fluctuations depending on the selection can be nailed glued or floated over the subflooring.
What is the best wood flooring to use over radiant heat.
One of the best options over radiant heat is to use an engineered hardwood floor.
The inherent dimensional stability of engineered hardwood floors makes it a great choice for radiant heat systems.
Floating engineered wood floors.
The best type of wood flooring construction to use would be a floating engineered floor.