Hardwood Installation in Conroe, TX

Hardwood in Conroe divides by the age of the slab, and the dividing line is roughly the mid-1990s when polyethylene vapor retarders under slabs became standard practice here. That single detail decides most of the job.

In the newer master-planned areas — Grand Central Park, Harper's Preserve, the Highway 105 corridor — the slabs are recent, flat, and were poured over a vapor barrier. Engineered plank glues straight down, moisture readings come back low, prep is minimal, and the work goes quickly. These are the good jobs and we can often quote them tightly.

In the older subdivisions the picture is different. A slab poured in 1985 frequently has nothing under it, which means ground moisture migrates up through the concrete continuously. That vapor does not care what the weather is doing; it is a steady state. Wood adhesive has a stated moisture tolerance and above it the bond fails — not immediately, but over a year or two, presenting as hollow-sounding boards and eventually movement underfoot. So on any pre-1995 Conroe house we do a calcium chloride or in-situ relative humidity test on the slab before we will commit to a wood floor, and where the readings are high the job needs a moisture mitigation coating first. That coating is not cheap and it is not optional, and knowing about it before you have chosen the wood is much better than after.