Do I Need A Floating Floor

Underlayment for laminate flooring is a must since laminate is a floating floor it must be evenly distributed across your subfloor.

Do i need a floating floor.

A floating floor is simply a floor that does not need to be nailed or glued to the floor underneath it. Putting in your own pre finished hardwood flooring costs less than having a professional install it. For the flooring industry that is inch in 10 feet or inch in 6 feet. Floating tile manufacturers stipulate that the subfloor must meet standard floor deflection specifications.

Floating floors require floor prep floating floors do require subfloor prep. If you install a floating floor you can probably do the installation yourself because the installation method requires little expertise. The cost of installation is the great equalizer. In this method individual planks or in some cases tiles interlock edge to edge to form a single mat like surface that simply rests on the underlayment.

It can vary widely depending on where you live and the size of your floor but it s generally in the range of 1 to 3 per square foot for vinyl plank flooring. When installing a floating laminate floor you don t need to use any adhesive nails or staples. My friends tell me i won t need one because the surrounding walls cabinets and doorway but i have an installer who tells me i need to break it and place a transition piece in 2 different areas. This means your subfloor s joists or trusses should not move when weight is applied to.

The term floating floor does not refer to a type of flooring material but rather to a method of installation that can be used with a variety of materials including laminates engineered hardwood and luxury vinyl flooring. Often age related settling results in an uneven floor which is likely. Installing one might appear to be a frightening task but with proper preparation and planning any home improvement diyer can do it. Underlayment is what allows the floor to float gives it stability support noise reduction and supports the locking systems in between planks to assure the sturdiest flooring project.

The laminate flooring box states that every 40 feet i need to place a transition molding. Slide the first two rows into their final position and repeat steps 5 and 6 above using the same alternating plank technique to complete the process. The subfloor flatness requirements for a floating floor are the same as for a glue down floor. Leveling a floor can be either a do it yourself project or a job for the pros depending on what s causing the problem.

They are not made to hide bad subfloors.