Floating Hardwood Floors
Keep coming across the term floating floor. This term relates to hardwood flooring that is fitted over underlay. Many people feel that hardwood flooring can be a little cold, but there are alternatives.
Any solid wood can be unstable when subjected to extremes of temperature as the wood expands with heat and can contract with colder temperatures. This actually makes under floor heating a challenge. There are a couple of solutions.
If you have decided on a solid wood floor use an underlay. The underlay for wood flooring is different than that used for carpets and Ball & Young’s Cush n Wood is a reputable brand to consider if you do not have under floor heating. Your floor is then a floating floor.
But, if you want the luxury of a solid wood floor together with the luxury of under floor heating you will need to purchase engineered hardwood flooring. Engineered flooring takes nothing away from the beauty of the wood, all the term means is that the boards are manufactured in layers. The top layer comprises the hardwood of your choice, for example oak, but the underlying board is manufactured in layers. This stabilises the contracting and expanding process of the wood for use with under floor heating – the result is just as hardwearing as solid wood, but much more stable when warmed and is available in clip form. You can use underlay too with engineered flooring and under floor heating but the key is to purchase the correct brands. Duralay’s Heatflow Underlay is recommended for use with heating systems as it has a lower Tog rating to allow the heat to permeate.
A floating hardwood floor then, is fitted over underlay.
Thanks for this info. I really want to fit hardwood flooring but have had a concern about how warm it would be in winter. The area in the house where I think wood flooring would look amazing gets really cold in winter and for this reason I have not carried through my plan. I will definitely consider it now and will look into the options for underfloor heating using your information to make sure I get the correct underlay etc. Great.
Wood flooring can actually be very warm with the correct underlay and underfloor heating – hope your plan comes to fruition now. Just remember to purchase engineered boards if you are having underfloor heating to stop any warping of the wood.