There are many hardwood flooring choices today. You can install a solid hardwood floor by nailing it to a plywood subloor. You can install an engineered tongue and groove hardwood floor by gluing it on a concrete floor. Both of these take some training and expertise and in our opinion, are best suited for professional flooring installers.
If you want DIY hardwood flooring consider a glueless floating floor for ease of installation. It can be installed on, above and below grade and on any type of subfloor so long as it is flat, smooth and stable. Unlike nail down solid hardwood flooring or glue down engineered hardwood flooring, a floating hardwood floor can save you lots of time, trouble and expense. You'll need just a few tools like a saw, hammer and installation kit. The hardwood floor planks click-together and rest on top of an underlayment.
You might wonder what keeps the floor from moving if it is not attached to anything? Flooring is heavy and when its connected to each other, the weight is dispersed along a wide area. After they are interlocked the panels act as one big, heavy and flat object.
We are big fans of locking floating hardwood floors and believe they are the best choice for do-it-yourself.