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Engineered Floating Wood Flooring
Engineered floating wood flooring gets better every day. There are more choices in color, style, texture and finishes now than ever before. They are easy to install and to maintain, sometimes even easier than wood flooring. And the price is often less than what you'll see for wood flooring.
Have you been procrastinating about putting a new floor down in one of the rooms in your home? Maybe the flooring in there is glued down and you are just unsure of how to remove the flooring. You do have options that can give you the beautiful flooring that you want without much of the headache that is associated with removing existing flooring. You can install engineered floating wood flooring in this room to help make it into the showplace that you want.
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As long as the existing flooring is smooth, you can install a floating floor on top of it. A floating floor is flooring that is installed without the aid of glue or nails. In most cases, it uses a click and lock system to join the flooring pieces to help it stay stable. This flooring can be one of many different kinds including tile, engineered wood, or laminate flooring. How do you install engineered floating wood flooring?
Installing engineered floating wood flooring is very simple. You first need to clean and sweep the area where you are placing the flooring. It is very important that the area be smooth and level so that your floating floor will lie flat. After you have swept the area thoroughly, then you need to install a moisture barrier on the floor. In most cases, this is simply a thick layer of foam-like material that helps keep the moisture away from your flooring and it also helps to add cushioning. This is a simple process of rolling the foam out and cutting it to fit the area with scissors or a razor blade.
Now that you have the underlayment ready, you are ready to install your engineered floating wood flooring. Before you begin installing, determine how to lock the flooring boards together. Then you are ready to start placing the flooring planks. By alternating where the seams are, you can make the flooring stronger and it will look more authentic. You will need to cut some of the flooring planks to fit, but this can be completed easily with a circular saw in most cases. You don't have to cut them so that they fit snugly against the wall. In fact, you want to leave a little gap for flooring expansion. Tapping the flooring with a rubber mallet may be needed to help get the planks seams butted up against each other. Installing this flooring may take some time, but it is not really difficult and the rewards when you have completed the floor will make your time and effort well worth it.
You are now ready to do the finishing touches, such as reinstalling your floor moldings, etc. You can walk on your beautiful flooring as soon as you have finished installing it. It many need a quick cleaning to help remove dust and dirt from you crawling around on it. Clean it as directed by the manufacturer and you are sure to have beautiful engineered floating wood flooring that will last you for many years to come. Or use Bona, an environmentally friendly and low VOC (volatile organic compounds) cleaner to maintain clean and beautiful floors.
Engineered floating wood floors are good for remodelled and new construction homes and offices. It's fine over in-floor radiant heat too. It comes in pre-finished and unfinished planks. I've had good and bad luck with the pre-finished engineered floors, telling me the manufacturer you select will make a difference in your satisfaction with pre-finished engineered wood floor. The finished product is beautiful and durable. You can't beat that!
Comments
Hi there, How difficult is it to feather a floor between the kitchen and dining area, the floor goes down about 1/4 inch and when the carpet comes up needs to be made even. Thanks for your help. Bill
Bill Jones at September 17, 2009 07:00 AM
Hi Bill.
There are a couple different things you can do to feather the floor. You can either put a transition strip between the two -- metal, wood, plastic, tile -- or raise the carpeted area 1/4" with plywood/OSB.
The Flooring Lady at September 18, 2009 12:09 PM
I'm interested in installing an engineered wood floor over the existing floors in my 100+ year old house. In a house this old, nothing is truly level, so how level do the old floors have to be? And, if necessary, how do I level the old floors (hardwood planks, some with significan gaps -- maybe 1/8" -- in between) to accept the new flooring?
Catherine at September 25, 2009 03:34 PM
Hi Catherine,
If the floors are flat, I don't know that you would need to level the old floors. If there are dips throughout the floor it may make a difference, but a small drop from one end of the room to the other should not.
If the floor is unlevel in a lot of places, a subfloor will need to be installed and then the new floor installed on top of that.
Then, if there are large adjustments to be made, you may want to have a professional look at it and offer a suggestion.
The Flooring Lady at September 29, 2009 09:46 AM
Does it make a big difference if the engineered wood click lock flooring is 3/8 inch or 5/8 inch thick as far as durability and the feel of being a real solid floor? We are going over a vinyl area in the kitchen as well as plywood in the living room and hall. All rooms flow into each other.
Nancy at October 1, 2009 01:33 PM
Nancy,
I do not think that the feel of the floor or the durability would be a noticeable difference between those two sizes.
However, if they are used together, there is a difference in width, and that may be noticeable.
The Flooring Lady at October 5, 2009 01:05 PM
I need to join a floating floor to a glue down floor with t molding. Should the t but against the glue down floor and be glued to it? Or should equal space be between the t on both floors? THANKS
Roy at October 15, 2009 07:39 AM
I want to install a floating hard wood floor... the two halls which also will be hard wood, are perpendicular to the main room... Do I turn the planks so that they run lengthwise down the hall? How do I transition at the meeting of the hall/main room (planks would be perpendicular to each other)
Frances at October 18, 2009 07:26 PM
Roy,
When cutting the boards, cut them short enough to leave a little gap between the floor and the wall. Snugly fit boards may buckle during the natural course of expansion and contraction. So, if you have the t butted against the old floor, but have the small gaps at the wall, you should be fine. If the one floor is floating and the other is glued, I don't know that I would glue them together at the t. You may want to ask a professional floor installer about that.
The Flooring Lady at October 19, 2009 08:52 AM
Frances,
That would really be a personal choice on how it appears. It would be easiest to run them lengthwise. You may be able to find a threshold that would make the transition a little more smooth looking.
The Flooring Lady at October 21, 2009 10:03 AM
