Before beginning a floating floor installation, you must verify that the flooring you purchased suits this method. For example, solid wood floors cannot be floated because of their high expansion rate; instead, they must be affixed to the subfloor by nailing or gluing.
Only engineered wood floors, constructed by adhering a veneer of wood, sometimes referred to as a “stave,” too many layers of ply wood, can be floated. This results in a stable structure in all directions, making it ideal for use in a floating configuration.
After verifying the flooring’s suitability for this installation method, you’ll need to check that the subfloor is prepared to receive the flooring.
The subfloor for a floating floor can be made of wood, concrete, screed, or a combination of the three; however, it must be level and flat, with no variances more significant than 2 mm over a distance of 1.5 m.
There are several options for leveling the subfloor if that is necessary. It is possible to “ply over” floorboards cupped and topped with 3mm ply or hardboard. Nail the ply or hardboard down with annular ring shank nails no longer than 20 mm long, or use 18 gauge staples of the same size. Because water and gas pipes are occasionally slotted into the joists beneath the floor boards, it is crucial that these fasteners not protrude too far into the subfloor.
If the floors are uneven, you can use a thicker sheet of ply (9–18 mm) to even them out. However, remember that the higher the finished floor level, the wider the ply sheet.
Latex leveling compound, preferably a two-part combination suitable for use over timber (we typically use Adtitex yellow bag and black bottle), should be used to smooth out any unevenness in the floor once the ply has been installed. Always use a high-quality acrylic primer like Bal R1131 or Arditex before applying the latex to the wood.
All door frames, null posts (null posts should only be undercut by 10mm. Any further will make the position unstable), and architraves must be undercut after the floor is level. Because of this, you can preserve a flawless finish, and the wood will have room to expand without cracking. To do this, we use an undercut saw, essentially an inverted circular saw with a height-adjustable sole plate, to undercut and remove the necessary material to bring the floor to the desired finishing level. If you don’t have access to an undercut saw, you can get the height you need by placing a small section of flooring on top of a team of underlay; then, you can undercut this section with a tiny handsaw laying on top of the flooring and underlay. In other words, if your floor ends at the threshold leading into the kitchen, you should only undercut as far as the threshold. Always leave a 25–30 mm space between your new floor and any preexisting flooring, such as tiles, to install a graduated door bar.
A hand saw or undercut saw may not be able to cut through all the wood or the frame even after you have undercut it. The last bit of wood can only be removed using a unique tool called a “Fein Multi Master,” which has a narrow reciprocating blade and can fit into the most limited crevices. Spending £180/$220 on one of these instruments wouldn’t be worthwhile if you only plan to install your floor at home and not do this professionally. A very sharp chisel may be used to carefully and slowly chip away at the remaining wood or frame, which would be effective. After you’ve undercut everything, use a chisel that’s even thinner than your cut to “knock out” the pieces of frame/wood; this will make it much simpler to lay the floor afterward.
To underlay your floor, you need only roll out the underlay across the surface, ensuring that it reaches the edges but does not “flap up.” Putting down underlay before installing a floor is a bad idea because it will get in the way of the cutout frames and the null posts.
Underlayment on a screed or concrete floor requires a DPM (damp proof membrane); we advise using a DPM-equipped product like Treadaire Boardwalk or Timbermate Excel; joints and seams should be sealed with vapor or Duck tape.
You’ll need to install one if the underlay you’ve ordered doesn’t come with a DPM already attached. Use 1000-gauge polythene and vapor tape or Duck tape to seal any seams.
If you’re installing a wooden suspended floor, you won’t need a DPM and can get away with only taping the underlay together every 300 millimeters or so.
After the underlay is in place, you can begin flooring installation. The floor should always follow the longest straight wall, so start by locating it. Working around the pipes supplying the radiators at the beginning of the line is more accessible than at the end.
Start by laying down a row of boards with the groove facing the wall; when you reach the end of the row, you’ll need to cut the last panel in; this may be measured as follows. If the floorboards have a tongue, the previous board should be placed with the end groove against the wall you will be finishing. To determine how much wood needs to be removed, place a 10-millimeter spacer between the groove end and the wall, and then draw a line on the board parallel to the floor’s end. It may sound complicated, but if you’re unsure how long each row should be, measure it with tape and use the leftovers to begin the next row.
After laying two rows end to end, leave an expansion gap of about 10 mm between the floor and the wall using plastic spacers (found at most hardware stores). It’s okay if this varies by more than 10 millimeters in a few spots, as long as nowhere it’s less than 5 millimeters or more than the thickness of the skirting or beading you’ll use to hide the expansion gap. Covering a large area requires rigorous adherence to the expansion gap.
Do not forget to be careful with the boards you install; any boards that are particularly dark or oddly grained should be discarded or used in an inconspicuous place, such as under stairs or as the last board at the edge of the room. Continue laying the floor, keeping the expansion gap around the room, and stagger all the joins by at least 300mm on every row.
Don’t forget to install a door bar, so leave a space of around 35 mm between the new wood floor and the old one. The new wood flooring must end about 5mm (0.02 inches) inside the door jambs. This is done so that the door bar can slide under the door and the floor is hidden from view. You shouldn’t be able to see any other beds from the other rooms while all the gates surrounding the floor you just installed are closed.
Your floor should now be installed entirely; after leaving the installation wedges in place for at least 12 hours to allow the glue to set, you can remove them and install the skirting or beading.
Welcome to Floorcraft in Farnborough, Hampshire, where I serve as the Managing Director, Gavin Winder. For over a decade, I’ve been sourcing and installing natural and engineered wood flooring. After installing more than 15,000 square meters of flooring, I consider myself an expert on the subject and its many difficulties.
Floorcraft Ltd. provides discounted solid oak floors, hardwood floors, laminate floors, and wooden floor accessories throughout the United Kingdom.
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