Definition: Floating floor is a method of installing a floor rather than a specific type of flooring material.

Floating Floor: Benefits and Disadvantages

One advantage of the floating floor method of installation is it allows for the floor to move and expand in response to changes in a room's humidity. More importantly, floating floors remove many obstacles to do-it-yourself installation. The floorboards easily attached to each other with no specialized tools such as a floor nailer. One of the disadvantages of a floating floor is that it is thinner and less substantial than flooring that attached to the subfloor. Floating floor tends to command lower resale value than traditional nailed-down or mortared-down hardwood or tile. Does this mean a floor that is less structurally stable? Not at all.

Before you think about laying the floating hardwood floor, you must ensure that your subfloor is properly prepared. This preparation is extremely important, first of all the subfloor must be thoroughly cleaned and then very importantly you must ensure that the subfloor is level and even. There are a couple of ways to ensure that the subfloor is level, either by using a spirit level or failing that lay a plank on its edge across the floor to check for any gaps between it and the subfloor. If you find any gaps of more than say of an inch then we would recommend spreading some self-leveling compound on the floor. Once this dries you should find your subfloor is relatively level and you will be ready to move on. Usually your next step will be to decide in what direction you are intending to lay your flooring. Most people take into account where the natural light enters the room as well as the positions of the entrances and exits. Generally floating floors can be laid in any direction. It is purely a personal choice, whatever suits your tastes really.

The tools you'll need to complete the job are: Spacers Glue Tapping block Chalk Line Saw Hammer Ruler Straps

How to Install a Floating Floor

It is the first three rows of the floating floor that are the most important. They should be kept straight and the all the joints should fit snugly. Try and Use clamps and straps to keep the connections tight. You must try to prevent the installed planks from opening up as you tap the next planks into place. The easiest & most common way of getting the planks of wood into a floating installation is to use a good quality adhesive in-between the joints of the wood. To apply the glue, run a line of glue along the joint or edge of the plank. You will then click that piece into the first piece you put down. It will help you if you place the planks of wood where you want them before you begin gluing. Remember that the glue does not take long to set, anywhere between seven to ten minutes, so you need to be clear on placement. Try your best not to use too much glue. Dont worry If you manage to get it everywhere, it is easy to wipe away any excess glue with a rag. Inevitably you'll also have to make wood cuts during installation. Measure twice.

Insert the one plank into the other and knock the pieces together with a hammer and a tapping block (a small scrap of wood). This will protect the tongue (edge of the plank) from any damage.

Never hit the tongue without a tapping block and always hold the tapping block tightly pressed to the tongue. Knock gently to close any gaps. It is always better to knock a bit more often, but softly, than it is to knock a few times very forcefully. If for some reason the planks wont fit together, have a look for something that maybe trapped underneath the floor, it could be too much glue, or just dirt in the grooves. There will be no space between the joints al song as the planks are installed correctly. If any tongue is visible between the planks, try and wiggle the planks free and check for any problems. If there isn't anything evident, try and use a different plank. Always re-glue before replacing the planks. Whilst knocking the planks together, always try and drive in the direction of the joint that you are trying to close. Remember that it's going to be virtually impossible to adjust the joints once the floor has set. So, please ensure that you plan your work carefully. Continue laying the floor by gluing the planks together and then gently tapping them into place. It is extremely important that you leave space around the edge of the room for the wood to expand and contract. Remember, wood is a living thing and expands and contracts over time and is also affected by changes in temperature. Beading can be used to cover this gap. The

manufacturer's instructions can also give you tips about how much space to leave for expansion. We would advise 10mm 15mm expansion gap is left. When you have the majority of the floor installed, it will be increasingly difficult to use a tapping block. At this point, you may be able to use a pulling iron and hammer to draw the planks together. Again, it's a good idea to use a small scrap of wood with a groove, in order to protect the wood. In order to protect the floor's finish while you're attempting the installation, we would advise that you have a towel or soft cloth available on which to set your tools and kneel. Once you have finished installation, it's time to add transitions, trim, beading, etc. to cover all the expansion spaces. Then, leave the floor set according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Tips Use long flooring strips at entrances and doorways. Scatter short pieces at random. Flooring experts find working left to right makes for an easier installation. Framing floor obstructions, such as heating vents, with mitered joints gives a professional look. Remember that the quality of the subfloor will affect the quality of the floor. The sub-floor must be level and dry with a moisture content of below 3% on a concrete moisture content scale The room of installation must have good ventilation and maintain a humidity of around 45%65%

Example of a floating floor

1. Laminate flooring

Laminate flooring is a hybrid. It looks uncannily like hardwood or stone but it's not. Yet it's not vinyl tiling and it's not engineered flooring. Laminate flooring it's easy to install--you can install several hundred square feet in a weekend. It's easy to clean, too. Laminate flooring is a surface layer of two thin sheets of paper impregnated with melamine. This surface layer is a photograph of wood grain, not real wood, and is usually covered by a hard transparent layer impervious to dogs, chairs, high heels. Under the wood-grain photograph is about a half-inch of wood-chip composite. And herein lie both the strong and weak points of laminate flooring. The strong point is that you can replicate practically anything on this Earth through a photograph, even the most costly Italian marble. The weak point is that it is fake. Laminate flooring planks, depending on the type you buy, are either snapped together or glued together. The "snap-together" kind is easier to install but not as structurally sound as the "glue-together" type. Also, the "glue-together" type resists moisture better.

2. Floating Tile Floors

Until recently, they have been confined mainly to laminate flooring. The reason is because ceramic and porcelain tiles have no easy way to link the sides. Floating tile links together via plastic base trays. Every manufacturer has a slightly different method, but generally it is the same in that the plastic tray is securely attached to the tile and snaps into the adjoining tile's base tray. Because the trays automatically space the tiles, there is no need for eyeballing or using plastic spacers. Floating tile floors are perfectly aligned. After installation, grout is applied between the tiles. Because this grout is acrylic-based, it does not need to be sealed.

Benefits and Disadvantages Benefits: Zero mortaring. No spacing problems. Plastic tray provides a base for tile to rest on. No waiting for mortar to dry.

Disadvantages: - Tile mortar provides a solid, continuous base for the tile. But base trays have hollow spaces that allow the tile to crack when weight is exerted on the tile. - No mortar, but you still have to grout the tile. -Cannot cut thin strips of floating tile. Strips less than about 3" are not stable. -Limited colors and styles.

3. Jack-Up Spring Floating Floors Floating floors are an efficient way to isolate airborne as well as impact noise in the vertical direction. Through the years CDM has developed many different types of floating floor isolation: on discrete isolators, on strips or on full surface mats. Usually, the systems based on discrete isolators show the highest performance and flexibility. The jack up floor system CDMISO-MONT even allows for the isolators to be taken out and replaced afterwards, resulting in a maximum flexibility (for instance when the building function changes). The isolators in discrete floor systems consist of either solids or springs, or again, a combination of both. Sports and Health Clubs can be very noisy places with numereous exercise equipment, aerobics, dance and weights areas all of which can transmit impact energy and structure borne noise to other parts of the building.

Mason UK Ltd are specialists when it comes to spring mount acoustic flooring systems.

Depending on the required isolation level, different types of floating floor systems may be proposed: for uniformly distributed loads and especially for non-uniformly distributed loads that ask for a varying stiffness and high acoustical performance in low frequency area. -Acoustic battens CDM-ISO-LAT for uniformly distributed loads -Soft acoustic layers CDM-ISO-MAT for uniformly distributed loads

The noise reductions that can be obtained with this systems are displayed in the graphs below:

Theoretical background
The basic parameter in vibration isolation is the resonance frequency of the system f0:

f0 =

The dynamic stiffness K of the floating floor (in N/m/m) is the sum of the stiffness of the air layer and the stiffness of the bearings:

ktot=kair+kdyn
The dynamic stiffness of the air layer Kair is calculated with:

kair=
The dynamic stiffness of the bearing is given by: kdyn=m(2fbearing)2 This parameter can be found in the CDM product data sheets. The mass of the floating floor is the total acoustic load P divided by g, gravity:

m=

The acoustic load consists of G, the dead load of the floor and Q, the live load on the floor, both in N/m: P=G+

Discrete bearings( elastomers or steel springs) CDM-ISO-FLOAT/ISO-MONT This system is used to perform high performance on the isolation of airborne and structure-borne sound transmission. The systems is used in areas where low background noise levels are required(recording studios, concert halls, etc.)

The following graph determines the type of bearing and its distribution per m2 as a function of two parameters P( the acoustic load ) and kdyn (the dynamic stiffness of the bearing)