Floating Floor Options

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