Hi all,
A couple of weeks ago I put in a Home Despot floating floor for a friend of mine. Not pergo, I can’t remember the brand off the top of my head. It seemed like it might be a better option than the pergo since this has about 1/4 inch of real maple laminated on top of a plywood base. It was the “snap-together” kind, no glue needed. I have done several of the glue together kind using the straps and snugging everything up good. Never had a problem with the joints. This one was anything but easy or simple. All the tongues had a little nib on the end that was supposed to click into a recess in the groove. Sometimes it would, sometimes it wouldn’t. Sometimes a light tap was all it took to get two pieces to match up sometimes much more effort i.e “big hammer”. Sometimes a joint would open up three rows back when tapping in a new piece. Not a big gap, maybe 1/32, but enough to be noticeable. I even tried strapping the already done rows to keep them from moving. No help. And, not all the edges lined up perfectly. She is sayng now that her socks catch on a couple of raised edges.
I know, I should have just left it alone. She had already lined up a crew from the Despot to install it, but I had a couple of free days so I stepped in. I don’t really feel confident about most of the installers arranged through the big boxes. But I should have left this one alone.
Also, the floor has the standard high gloss pre-finish so her dog’s claws are already leaving their marks.
Have any of you any experience with these things? What did I do wrong on the install? And, more importantly, what to do now? My best advice would be to have a floor finisher come in and do a very light sanding/screening and then go with a satin finish. This would get rid of the raised edges, hopefully, and a duller finish would hide claw marks better. Any other suggestions? I assume that since this floor has that 1/4 inch of real wood on top, one refinish might be in the cards. Or does the fact that this floor floats present any problems for a refinish.
sorry for the long post, but thanks for any insight.
brad
Replies
all I can offer is I did a Wilsonart "Tap n Lock" ...
planks ...
it was from their "Estate Plus" ... top of their line stuff ...
and it went together great.
short bit of learning curve to figure what "entry angle" and what amout of "tap" would lock it .... I started it ... my 2 helpers finished it ... they did the bulk of it ...
got moving pretty fast in a short amount of time.
the area is going to be a workout room ... and is right outside the customers basement storage area ... so while it's not seen dogs ... it's already had lotsa stuff and various dollys and handtrucks wheeled over it ...
not one mark that couldn't be wiped off.
I'd guess their benefit of that 1/4 wood will be the downfall of the floor.
too soft ....
if you get another job that wants the tap together ...
I'd recommend this one.
Jeff
did the wilsonart have a real wood top layer or was it a synthetic laminate? like i said, this is the first one of this type i have done. past laminate floors have turned out fine for me and have held up well.
thanks for the reply
I installed some click lock cork panels. Big, maybe 14-16" by 36". As jeff mentioned, there was an angle you had to lift the panel to start it and get it going in, then drop down for the last bit and the final tap, both in the long side and then into the last one you ran. If you tried to drive it straight in, you had to force it, the result could be blowing up the joint from over driving. Could that have been the situation?Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
i'm sure you're right in that by driving the joint together i was inadvertently opening up previous joints and probably overtightening some. it was only the joint on the narrow side that gave me problems. i would mate the two pieces together to the point where they wouldn't go any further by hand. then with a block and a hammer i would tap on the narrow end away from narrow joint until it was tight. then i would work my way down the long side with the block and hammer until that was tight. invariably during this the short end would open up. then i would have to tap "harder" on the short end to drive the joint back together. this was much more difficult at this point since the long joint was already "locked" and the friction meant that the piece didn't want to move. this stuff did not fit together at all without some tapping. does other "snap-together" stuff fit together by hand or does it all need some persuasion?
Anyway, the floor is down now. question is now to figure out how to get rid of several slightly raised seems. since it is wood as a top layer, i am still leaning toward a light sanding and refinish. unless there is another suggestion out there somewhere.
thanks,
brad
This is what I was trying to get across. In the product I installed there were no instructions at all, period. Like the info that was given the homowner that bought it at HD. "It just snaps together" was all he was told. It was my first click lock and I thought "it just snaps together". When it didn't, I remembered what fast eddie showed me. He said '' Some of 'em you just lay flat on the floor with the mating end out more across the long edge". Start the pc by mating the corner of the butt joint and swing that end in. This keeps the butt tight while the pc. is mated up on the long side. Those you sometimes see opening up as you continue. Still, tapping with a block is the norm. "Others you start with the butt joint just a bit apart, raise the pc you're laying bring it in tight wiggle it up and down and it locks the long side". Lay it down, tap in to the butt. If you try to blast either side in, you damage the groove, expanding that joint. This method made my job a breeze. This won't solve your problem now, but might help on the next one.....or not.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
the wilsonart, I think ... was all laminate.
fake wood.
if U ever need a "real wood" engineered product ... look at BR111
http://www.br111.com
did a floating floor ... edge glued ... floor very pricy .... very nice stuff.
Jeff
I did a couple of Wilsonart jobs and liked it pretty well.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
probably alum. oxide coat on there if dogs got it, they'll get recoat stuff too need sanding hard to sand, floaters deflect all over place, not good for controlling machine raised edges might be "beating" damage, but i've had product come like that it shouldn't, but mfg. will blame installer for not inspecting, culling them out
lot of tap 'n click are tough should be called beat 'n pray try to find angle like jeff said if not, tapping block won't cut it either, can dent edge with hard strikes trick we use to drive panels is hardwood flooring mallet, iron head type w replaceable white rubber non-marring face from powernail co. can angle strike the panel on face, won't damage it, drives it good put 3 to 4 courses in, then "staircase" it from there seems to buttress the assemble as a whole
starter courses can get "back-out" space while forward courses are worked into place had decent luck using mallet, or flooring jack carefully off starter wall while someone puts their weight on far end of floor to brake it
that is my main worry, that a floating floor will float if I try to sand/buff it and I could end up with a worse situation. beat and pray sounds like the experience I had. But at least I have some good advice for the next time. I did staircase it like you suggested but this was a small kitchen 160 s.f. divided into basically three "areas" which meant also that I could not get more than say 5-6 short courses going before I had to work around a wall or cabinet.
thanks for the help
brad
"She is sayng now that her socks catch on a couple of raised edges"
Sounds like common "overwood" It's especially noticeable and common with lower priced products that are mass produced. The milling isn't refined and you get vertical height differences from one board to another after the installation. Overwood is a major reason why many prefinished manufacturers offer micro beveled floors. BUT with floating floors it's rarely an issue.
Ken Fisher
Jeff: You're really stuck on the BR111 engineered. Nice to hear it's a good product to work with, but that wear layer is micro thin.
has anyone ever tried to sand or refinish a floating floor? if so, any comments on the results, good or bad? does the floor float too much to get good, even results? just curious.
brad
Ken,
TYou know more about floors than half of all breaktimers put together, I suppose. A thopught that oocours to me on this one, is that the product may have become unevenly dampened too.
The substrate is plywood and it is surfaced with a real wood layer.
Both can swell from moisture. Given that fact, and the certain knowledge of how HD takes care of its products, I can easily imagine that a pallet had its plastic wrapping torn while it sat in the rain.
With one end swelling more than another, that would account for the misfits and openning joints here and there.
Only a possibility, but worth considering along with the overwood, wouldn't you think?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I would suggest not refinishing 'cause no way can you get as good as controled factory finish.
As this floor is snap together. Place some blue painters tape on the bad seams. then just unsnap and reinstall. And the marks by the dog are a feature!