Is a Floating Floor Right for You?
A floating floor is a method ofinstalling floor coveringsrather than a punch in of flooring itself.
The flooring units interlock edge-to-edge to form a single mat-like surface that rests on the underlayment.
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No harsh adhesives are needed.
It’s not necessary to rent compressors or floor staplers.
A well-installed floating floor requires a solid, level subfloor.
Some floating floors can feel hollow underfoot, lacking the solidity of nailed-down hardwood or bondedceramic tile.
Laminate flooring planks are generally joined with a modified tongue-and-groove system often known as click-lock or fold-and-lock.
Luxury Vinyl Flooring
Like laminate flooring,luxury vinyl flooringsnaps together board-to-board.
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Tiny tongues and grooves engineered into the boards allow them to lock together.
Some forms of LVF are semi-flexible planks, while others have semi-rigid cores.
Engineered Wood Flooring
Mostengineered wood flooringis installed by nailing or stapling it down to a plywood subfloor.
However, some types are installed as floating floors.
Damp-mopping is allowed but infrequently and only with a squeezed-out damp mop.
With engineered hardwood, you should avoid the use of water.
One key in of floating floor called loose lay dispenses with side joints.
With loose lay, damaged planks anywhere within the edge or field can be lifted straight up and replaced.
Any flexing or unevenness of the subfloor will be transmitted to the relatively thin layer of surface flooring.
So, a flat, solid substrate is essential to a good installation.
Then, an underlayment is applied to the subfloor.
This is often a thin layer of dense, resilient foam that is rolled out over the subfloor.
This layer helps to absorb any flexing in the surface flooring and makes it softer and quieter underfoot.
Some types of floating flooring are engineered with a resilient underlayment bonded right to the planks.
With these, no additional underlayment is necessary.
The small gaps around the perimeter of the room are usually hidden by baseboard shoe moldings.
This problem can be minimized by the installation of good-quality foam underlayment and by using area rugs and runners.
These products are typically less expensive and easier to install than comparable glue-down or nail-down flooring.
