Whether you are tearing up old carpet or want something over concrete in a basement recreation room, floating flooring provides a simple solution with many benefits. You don’t need to have excellent carpentry skills and very few tools are needed to install this type of product. You can instantly go from a drab worn out looking surface to something attractive and durable.
A floating floor involves pieces of hardwood are glued to several layers of another wood, like heart pine flooring, or another base wood, to make a product of several plies. One advantage of this is that it adds warmth and helps keep energy costs in check. This is especially true for a basement floor, which is typically cement. Because the pieces are meant to snap together, there is no nailing and usually no stapling involved.
When installing a traditional hard wood product with nails or staples, you need to make allowances for expansion. With the snap together system, this is done for you, so there is not additional measuring involved. You simply need to cut the pieces to fit the pattern you want and for the edges. You can get away with simply using a saw and perhaps a rubber or plastic hammer to coax the joints together.
Many products are manufacturer of real hard wood. They different with this type of product is that it usually comes prefinished. This saves quite a bit of work in putting down the finish after installation. Unless you are an expert in woodworking, it will be difficult to achieve the right look with stains and finishes on bare floors.
Even if a good quality polyurethane is used, it will not match the resilience of a product that has the coating applied in the factory, where a thicker layer can be applied. The pieces already finished tend to be more uniform in color and finish, which helps make your project look more professional.
Using this type of product makes quite a bit of sense in areas of high traffic or in rooms that are used for play. It is very durable and many products will last as long as you own your home. Depending on the type of materials used, some will even help reduce humidity, as they can absorb quite a bit of it. In the basement, this system is a good idea because it will allow water to drain below, rather than running across the top of the floor.
There are many materials that can be used to make this type of system. Hard woods are common. However, bamboo flooring is another natural choice that can just as attractive and offers greater durability. Plank flooring should be staggered in length, where two pieces meet in the same row. Not only does this look better but also makes the surface stronger.
This should be taken into consideration when purchasing the right amount for your project.
You will likely need more pieces than the amount of square feet provided in a the package, if purchased that way. If you are purchasing the product by the square foot, make sure you have decided where the staggered end joints will go, to get the correct amount to complete the job for your floating floors.
Comments on this entry are closed.