The subfloor flatness requirements for a floating floor are the same as for a glue down floor.
Floating floor on concrete problems.
The term floating floor does not refer to a type of flooring material but rather to a method of installation that can be used with a variety of materials including laminates engineered hardwood and luxury vinyl flooring.
Moisture can warp the boards and damage them so homeowners should lay mats and other protective materials in areas like bathrooms that will absorb water.
After 3 years from installation date the wood floors upstairs on the wooden subfloor they started to cup and buckled in both rooms mostly in the middle of the room.
For the flooring industry that is inch in 10 feet or inch in 6 feet.
They are not made to hide bad subfloors.
A moisture barrier may or may not be needed to insure good adhesion of your vinyl floor so do your homework to avoid problems later on down the road.
Since floating floors are just that floating problems can manifest themselves in four ways.
Installing a wood floor requires a substantial investment in materials and labor.
For flawless wood floors avoid these 11 wood flooring installation and finishing mistakes.
The floors on the first floor installed on the concrete are fine and perfect.
Chipping since most floating floors are made from thinner materials they tend to be less substantial flooring options and easily be chipped during installation when a tapping block.
Concrete as a subfloor is a better option if you plan to have something really heavy sitting on that floor.
A concrete floor seems like the perfect base for a vinyl floor installation.
And mildew mold growth.
In this method individual planks or in some cases tiles interlock edge to edge to.
For floating floors manufacturers often recommend installing a moisture barrier between the subfloor and the floating floor to prevent moisture intrusion.
Floating floors are susceptible to moisture problems especially when homeowners install them in moist areas like kitchens and bathrooms or over concrete.
The difficulty of course is that if the moisture barrier is compromised in any way moisture from the slab beneath can still damage the flooring or finish.
Concrete floors can be susceptible to settling and cracking over time and this is a more frequent problem when an existing structural slab has adapted to a finished residential flooring surface such as when a basement or loft condo has been converted to living space.
When problems arise or when a floor fails it can be costly.
In most cases though a floating floor shouldn t have a problem sustaining normal amounts of weight.
A concrete floor with a too high moisture content can wreak havoc on a vinyl floor.