Floating Engineered Floor On Concrete

Cost skill level.

Floating engineered floor on concrete.

Laying down your floating flooring directly onto concrete is a no no. The planks glue together to create a floor that floats moves freely as a unit. As an installation method glued down is most suited for either concrete or wood subfloors. Engineered wood flooring offers the timeless look of hardwood but is perfect for basements and other areas where moisture can be an issue.

Nail down and floating floor installations will be covered in parts 2 and 3 of this article series. For one there s less insulation. You need to leave a 5 16 inch gap between the flooring and the baseboard or wall around the perimeter of the room to allow the floor enough space to expand. Also the possibility of dampness however small is greater when there are fewer membranes between your concrete foundation and your floating floor.

This article however focuses only on the glue down application. Installing a floating engineered hardwood floor works well at any grade level and over most types of subfloor surfaces. Follow these steps to install an engineered wood floor in your home. If you are installing a locking or floating floor not attached to the subfloor just make sure that the subfloor is clean.

Instead the engineered wood planks are joined together with interlocking joints creating a single continuous layer that floats over the subfloor. Glued down means using a bonding agent adhesive or glue which is put directly onto the subfloor before laying any of your engineered wood flooring. Floating vs glued down engineered wood flooring. Engineered flooring goes down over a thin foam sheet which provides cushioning and sound dampening.

For the floor adhesive to properly stick the floor must be clean. Using a glue down floor is an option in above grade installation only since installation below grade requires a plastic barrier on top of the concrete. Some engineered wood flooring products are designed for a glue down application when installing flooring over a concrete slab. How to install a base for a concrete floor.

If your subfloor is concrete cover it with a wood or engineered wood subfloor first. 500 750 square feet of coverage. The surface can t be slick heavily troweled or burnished. Use a quality cleaner like zep professional concrete and masonry floor cleaner 27 per gallon.

Floating engineered wood flooring problems mainly come from moisture and not taking the proper steps to ensure the wood is protected from underneath the main drawback of using a floating floor installation for the engineered wood is the initial extra step to secure the boards.