NDR-Engineered Hardwood Flooring, can you float it?

Tom Wall

Tom Wall

Well-known member
I need some advice. Tomorrow I wil be installing an engineered hardwood floor in our dining room. I was planning on putting laminate flooring down but this was on clearance and I couldn't pass it up. My wife is very sensitive to the fumes from the glue used to glue the engineered hardwood down. Somewhere I remember reading about floating it. You put down an underlayment and then glue the tongue and grooves together. Has anyone ever done this? How did it turn out? What are the pros and cons?

Thanks,

Tom
 
You use a 1/4" thick foam underlayment tacked to your substrate, then you use the correct glue that is made for it and recommended by the flooring manufacturer. We sold it about 10 years ago. You have to leave space for expansion around the edges and you need a moulding to capture the edge that isn't against a wall. The glue reminded me of Titebond yellow glue. The only problem is if a board has a crown in it, the glue won't hold it straight permanently. Too bad Rutgers is busy, he puts in thousands of feet of flooring and could address your question better than I. Did your flooring come with installation instructions? You should have all the boxes in the area you are going to do, open, so they acclimate to the temp and humidity.....even if it is veneered plywood flooring. Put rugs on the traffic pattern of the dogs as their toenails knock the piss out of the veneer.
 
Lee,

Thanks for the advice. The flooring came with instructions to glue to the subfloor. My wife really doesn't like the smell of those ahesives and was/is going to leave for the weekend. There are no instructions for floating it. I was assuming I could follow the process you have outlined but, I thought I'd ask before I started the project.

I wasn't going to buy this flooring but HomeDepot had it on sale for less than $1/sq. ft. I just couldn't pass it up.

Thanks,

Tom
 
They do have floating floors that install without glue.They just snap together over a thin membrane,leaving 1/4 " all around,covered with a 3/4" quater round.We did a 15x18 room in eight hours.No problems for a very high traffic area with two fast starting Britts,dying to get out after critters,the past two years.
 
I've used the interlocking stuff in two rooms in our house. It floats & works great. Easy to install, pretty tough stuff too.
 
Lee,

Thanks for the advice. The flooring came with instructions to glue to the subfloor. My wife really doesn't like the smell of those ahesives and was/is going to leave for the weekend. There are no instructions for floating it. I was assuming I could follow the process you have outlined but, I thought I'd ask before I started the project.

I wasn't going to buy this flooring but HomeDepot had it on sale for less than $1/sq. ft. I just couldn't pass it up.

Thanks,

Tom
Click to expand...

The stuff where you could glue the tongue to the groove had a rather large tongue. If you are gluing to the floor, use a good quality construction adhesive. If your floor isn't perfectly cleaned of old tile adhesive or other stuff....put a layer of 1/4" luan over it and nail it down with ring shank UL nails in 4" to 6" squares. Have an apron with a pound of 6 finish nails too so you can hold down the ones that are less than straight.
 
I'm not trying to be a wise guy ,but with all the information out there on the web you might want to try a google search on the subject .
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. I ended up gluing as the manufactorer recommended. A 90 year old floor is just not level enough.

If I hadn't gotten such a good deal on the materials I would have gone with the laminate flooring. It would have gone down much quicker and easier!

Tom
 
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