The layout of a Floating Floor.

A floating floor is a floor that is laid over an existing sub-floor and is neatly clipped together, though at no point attached to the floor beneath it.  These are cleverly engineered floors made of a variety of materials bonded together, and offering a home owner a quick solution to brightening up their home.

Floating floors have the ability to stay in place because of gravity, although in the early days, the clips that held these together caused creaking, which has been overcome with modern models and research, giving the home owner the possibility to construct the floor without any expertise, just by following basic guidelines of placing it onto an even floor and leaving an air gap around the skirting area so that the floor can expand and contract without causing the floor to lift in places.

THE RANGE

The range of floating floors available on the market means that consumers have the choice of lush wooden finishings ranging through from tropical woods to the more traditional woods of Maple, Oak and Cherry without the expense of having to have major works done within the home by qualified carpenters. For a more unique look, the ranges available from specialists that stock laminate flooring include such finishes as natural Bamboo, Teak and Walnut.

FIXINGS

The floating floor has built in fixings which come in the form of tongues and grooves, although the tongues are at a different angle from traditional tongues, and click into their slot easily gripping the corresponding plank with a more secure linking than is possible with a fixed wooden flooring.

UNDERLAY

Floating floors can be purchased with an underlay already on them although this is rare. Normally a membrane is laid between the sub-floor and the floating floor, and this serves two purposes, one to be sound insulating and one to add extra insulation to floors and overcome the condensation that can be caused when putting a cold surface against a warm one.

ADVANTAGES

The advantages of floating flooring is that it is almost instant and can be performed with little skill. The color range gives great flexibility of choice and the surface is easily washable with a damp mop or cloth.

DISADVANTAGES

The disadvantages of this type of flooring is that they are less hard-wearing than traditional wooden floors. In areas where the home is susceptible to water ingress such as in bathroom and mud room environments, the floor should be glued within the tongue and groove to prevent water passing through the layers of laminate and swelling the product causing breakdown of the floor solidity.

It should also receive a coating to protect it. If buying cheap quality laminate flooring, the flooring can be damaged easily, and is not repairable like standard wood, because of the surface being photo finish, rather than wood. If buying cheaply, and using without glue, it’s a good idea to buy extra because planks can be re-laid, replacing damaged planks, at the next major decoration.

GRADES

One of the important factors to take into consideration with laminate flooring is quality. Many stores offer seconds or defective flooring at discounted prices, and while this may suit the householder’s needs, the wear factor does come into play and the consumer would need to buy extra packs to allow for defects in the planking.

The high quality grades of floating floors are used successfully in high traffic commercial premises and will withstand heavy use, and are certainly worthy of consideration when choosing the type for your home.

FINISH

Different quality finishes make the world of difference to floating floors, and while many contain very little wood and are made from compressed material with a back-boarding, finished with a photo finish wood effect, what should be taken into account when buying is the guarantee given by manufacturers, since this says a lot more about quality and expected lifetime of the flooring.

Floating floors are becoming more and more popular as an option in the modern home, and new finishes are coming out all the time, now giving stone and ceramic effects as well as the wooden ones mentioned above. As a concept it is successful and ever evolving, and can make your home look clean and inviting, make it easier to keep clean, and be enhanced with the beauty of your furnishings or rugs for a complete and original designer look.

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