Making sure the subfloor is relatively flat minimizes vertical movement of the floor when people walk on it. Note, though, that with a floating floor you will always have a certain amount of movement, as it is installed over a pad. When you walk, the pad compresses and the floor will move.
However, please note that there is a slight difference between a nailed hardwood floor and a floating one. You will always feel a certain amount of movement as you walk over a floating floor. You will get used to it and won't even feel it with time.
A: All floating floors will move some as they are not solidly anchored to the floor. Usually this movement is very subtle and difficult to feel unless you are specifically looking for it.
Any new laminate floor product, including Swiss Krono, needs to sit in your house for at least 48 hours in the room it will be installed in order to acclimate or to become accustomed to a new climate or conditions.
What are the problems with floating floors? Floating floors can be susceptible to moisture and humidity, which can cause warping or buckling. They also tend to be more prone to gaps between planks due to their lack of attachment.
A floating floor can have a slight bounce or give underfoot, but it should not feel excessively bouncy or unstable. A small amount of deflection is normal and can be caused by a number of factors, such as the type of subfloor, the thickness and quality of the underlayment, and the installation method.
This back-and-forth movement can wreak havoc on a floating floor if it's not installed correctly. The snapping sounds are almost always traced to an uneven subfloor. Laminate flooring materials don't tolerate humpy and bumpy subfloors. Subfloors need to be quite flat.
LVT, Laminate or Wood Floor Bouncing
A wood or laminate floor can only bounce when there is a gap between the underside of the plank and the sub-floor. When weight is applied to the flooring, it moves downward because it is not supported, causing the bounce.
But, it can also be one of the big disadvantages of floating floors if you live somewhere that experiences extremely high humidity. This is also due to the space between the floor and subfloor. If a lot of moisture accumulates in there, it may contribute to warping, pitting, or mold growth.
The floorboards fit together, creating a tight bond and allowing your floor to be stable without any actual attachment to the subfloor. Having floating floors in your home is beneficial for a multitude of reasons. Let's explore whether a floating floor installation is right for your home or apartment.
Floating floors are not designed to hold the extra weight of cabinets, and over time they can damage the floor and cause more issues in the long run. Therefore, we recommend that you install the cabinets before the floating floor.
One of the most common reasons why laminate flooring develops space between floorboards is temperature. A rise in temperature leads to expansion, while a decrease in temperature leads to contraction.
A minor amount of “deflection” (feeling the flooring compress and spring back underfoot) is actually a good thing – that slight give means the flooring is absorbing some of the impact of your steps.
Most floating interlocking engineered wood floors often squeak due to movement between floor boards (in some cases T&G floating floors will also create crackling noises when insufficient amounts of glue are used and or uneven subfloors) . Uneven subfloors can cause flooring planks to dip and move when stepped on.
This situation can be easily remedied. Simply follow the peaking board's perpendicular to the wall or molding, remove the necessary molding- if against the wall, remove the baseboard and cutout a section or enough of the laminate board that meets the wall or molding that will give the floor more space to expand.
Moisture and water damage are the most common causes of buckling, as they can cause the planks to swell and lift up from the subfloor. Temperature changes can also cause buckling due to the expansion and contraction of the laminate planks.
Because the flooring isn't attached to the sub-floor, it can move slightly when walking over it. However this is often tiny movements, caused by the underlay compressing underfoot. A hollow or echoed sound can sometimes occur when walking over a floating floor.
Laminate flooring can accommodate 300-500 pounds per square inch. Exceeding 500 pounds will cause dents on your flooring. As such, be careful with heavy and bulky furniture and appliances such as the piano, which is around 600 pounds.
Floating floors are designed to freely move in the room as a whole and should never be glued down or nailed to the subfloor. Also, any permanent fixtures like cabinets, wood stoves, or fixed appliances should never be installed on top of and through a floating vinyl floor.
Since refrigerators weigh, on average, between 200 and 400 pounds, there should not be any problems placing a fridge or other heavy furniture on your vinyl plank floors.
As solid wood is a natural material, it needs room to expand and contract, and if there are no gaps, it will start to buckle and rise from the floor. Always make sure your wooden floor is laid by a professional, who will take the need for an adequate expansion gap seriously.