Traditional hardwood strip flooring has long been a staple of residential
construction, but sanding and sealing the floor on site is
messy and inconvenient. While prefinished strip flooring eliminates
the need for on-site finishing, contractors looking for less
labor-intensive alternatives are increasingly turning
to "floating" floor systems. Designed to be
laid over a vapor barrier and a thin foam pad, the
planks or tiles of a floating floor are edge-glued to each other without the
need for fasteners (see chart).
Two types. Most floating floors are either wood veneer or plastic laminate
(see Figure 1). Like plywood, wood veneer flooring is built up out of several
core layers, topped with a