ᐅ Is it possible to install floating hardwood flooring continuously without any room breaks?
Created on: 8 May 2025 15:06
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Franke89Hello everyone,
In our planned house, the same wooden floor will be installed throughout the entire upper floor (except for the bathroom). We want to have no breaks or transitions when moving from one room to another.
We would like to install the flooring ourselves.
The installation method will be floating.
Can anyone share their experiences on the best way to approach this?
In our planned house, the same wooden floor will be installed throughout the entire upper floor (except for the bathroom). We want to have no breaks or transitions when moving from one room to another.
We would like to install the flooring ourselves.
The installation method will be floating.
Can anyone share their experiences on the best way to approach this?
N
nordanney8 May 2025 15:13Franke89 schrieb:
Can someone share their experience on the best way to approach this? What exactly is your question? Just installing it according to the click direction can get tricky, and I wouldn’t recommend doing it that way.
Hello,
Installing hardwood flooring throughout the entire floor without expansion gaps, floating?
In short: Don’t do it! We did exactly that and stayed within the recommended installation guidelines. But hardwood flooring expands and contracts much more than laminate and warps due to the varying temperatures and especially humidity levels between summer and winter. The result was creaking and squeaking when walking over it, like in a 500-year-old haunted castle.
After six months, we had a major water damage and had to remove all the hardwood flooring to dry the screed. When we reinstalled it, I laid it again without expansion gaps but glued it down. Since then, no problems.
My advice: only glue hardwood flooring, do not install it floating. Laminate can be installed floating without issues.
Best regards,
Andreas
Franke89 schrieb:
The installation method should be floating.
Installing hardwood flooring throughout the entire floor without expansion gaps, floating?
In short: Don’t do it! We did exactly that and stayed within the recommended installation guidelines. But hardwood flooring expands and contracts much more than laminate and warps due to the varying temperatures and especially humidity levels between summer and winter. The result was creaking and squeaking when walking over it, like in a 500-year-old haunted castle.
After six months, we had a major water damage and had to remove all the hardwood flooring to dry the screed. When we reinstalled it, I laid it again without expansion gaps but glued it down. Since then, no problems.
My advice: only glue hardwood flooring, do not install it floating. Laminate can be installed floating without issues.
Best regards,
Andreas
I see several different threads from you, so I’m missing the overall context.
Considering this is your first house, as you say, you’re taking on quite a few complex tasks. Are you truly aware of the many individual requirements involved? KNX and automation can be interesting (less so for me), but there are other priorities to handle first, like your flooring. If you’re inexperienced, you’re likely to lose a lot of patience and more just dealing with that.
In my first house, I tiled the guest bathroom—what a challenge. Eventually, it went well with some creative adjustments, same with the laundry room and utility room. In my current house, we installed floorboards everywhere; that also comes with its own problems.
So I wonder if you might be taking on too much at once with the parquet project. Personally, I think the subfloor is already very important—whether it’s screed or OSB—and whether you’d need to tackle the most difficult solution right away. Why not start in a spare room to observe and learn? Then move on to the next room. The real challenge is the living room; once you’ve managed that, you’ll be confident.
As for myself, I haven’t had any negative experiences with floating floors; the often-mentioned “springiness” felt quite comfortable to me. I wouldn’t have trusted myself to do glue-down at the beginning.
Considering this is your first house, as you say, you’re taking on quite a few complex tasks. Are you truly aware of the many individual requirements involved? KNX and automation can be interesting (less so for me), but there are other priorities to handle first, like your flooring. If you’re inexperienced, you’re likely to lose a lot of patience and more just dealing with that.
In my first house, I tiled the guest bathroom—what a challenge. Eventually, it went well with some creative adjustments, same with the laundry room and utility room. In my current house, we installed floorboards everywhere; that also comes with its own problems.
So I wonder if you might be taking on too much at once with the parquet project. Personally, I think the subfloor is already very important—whether it’s screed or OSB—and whether you’d need to tackle the most difficult solution right away. Why not start in a spare room to observe and learn? Then move on to the next room. The real challenge is the living room; once you’ve managed that, you’ll be confident.
As for myself, I haven’t had any negative experiences with floating floors; the often-mentioned “springiness” felt quite comfortable to me. I wouldn’t have trusted myself to do glue-down at the beginning.
andimann schrieb:
Hello,
Installing hardwood flooring throughout the entire level without expansion gaps and using the floating method?
In short: Don’t do it! We did exactly that and stayed within the installation parameters. However, hardwood expands and contracts significantly more than laminate, and it warped due to the varying temperatures and especially humidity levels between summer and winter. The result was creaking and cracking sounds while walking on it, like being in a 500-year-old haunted house.
After six months, we had a major water damage incident. The entire hardwood floor had to be removed to dry the screed, and when re-installing, I laid it again without expansion gaps but glued it down this time. Since then, no problems.
My advice: Only glue down hardwood flooring; do not install it floating. Laminate flooring, on the other hand, can be installed floating without issues.
Best regards,
AndreasStresses are obviously frustrating. Do you have underfloor heating? What type of wood was the hardwood? How large was the gap to the walls in your case?
Arauki11 schrieb:
I see several different threads from you, so I’m missing the overall context.
Considering this is your first house, as you say, you’re taking on quite a few challenging tasks. Are you truly aware of the many individual requirements? KNX and automation might be nice (less so for me), but there are other priorities first, like your floors. If you’re inexperienced, you’ll definitely lose a lot of patience and more on that alone.
In my first house, I tiled the guest bathroom—what a headache. Eventually, things improved with creative adjustments, same with the laundry and utility rooms. In our current house, we’ve installed floorboards everywhere, which also brings its own challenges.
So I wonder if you’re biting off more than you can chew with the parquet project. Personally, I would first focus on the subfloor (screed/OSB?) and ask myself whether you need to tackle the toughest solution right away. Why not start in a secondary room, observe and learn? Then move on to the next room. The living room is the ultimate challenge, and after that, you’ve got it down.
I, for one, haven’t had any negative experience with floating floors; the often-mentioned “springiness” felt even pleasant to me, and I wouldn’t have trusted myself to glue anything down back then. Yes, it’s going to be an exciting time—I’m looking forward to it. I’m confident in my craftsmanship, as I’ve built furniture myself and have even cut down a tree before 😉
I also have 400 extra hours available.
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