Floating Floors
Floating floor is not any specific type of flooring material; however it is available as both hardwood floors and laminate floors. It actually refers to the installation method, rather than the actual materials and structure of the wood itself.
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The purpose of this floor is to “float”; therefore they are not to be attached to the sub floor. This unique process of installation could be an ideal choice for many designing solutions.
Installation:
The installation process is very quick and simple that a homeowner can easily install the floors him/herself which can save a good chunk of cash. Also because the floating floor does not need to be attached to the sub floor, it eliminates a lot of mess and hassles.
Each individual plank has a tongue and groove connecting structure along all four sides, which easily links the planks together. For some types of the floating floor a manufacturer might suggest to use special glue on the tongue and groove while locking them together. Floating floors tent to expand and contrast depending on the humidity level, creating gaps. The glue will prevent the development of the gaps between the planks that can occur over a period of time. These floors are designed to be installed onto any kind the sub floor without the use of nails, glue or staples. It is, however strongly recommended to install them on a special underlay (foam or cork padding). The underlay is used to control moisture. It also helps to level out the sub floor assuring that there are no dips or rises which can create squeaking noises.
Functionality & Performance:
The word which best describes this type of floors is functionality. All buildings which require some sort of technological functionality embed the use of floating floors in their design. This is due to the fact that they tend to reduce and trap noise and vibrations. There are few examples listed below as to why in some cases this type of installation is a necessity for certain companies.
Sound studios most often use floating floors, because any outer or inner vibrations need to be reflected or absorbed in order to provide good acoustics. The important purpose is to keep the resonance frequency down and not to allow the environment to distort the recordings.
Companies which manufacture chips and integrated circuits trust the functionality of the floating floors to keep the vibrations below the affecting level and within the correct range. Any vibration has the potential to damage the future circuit, so all such negative interactions need to be strictly controlled.
Cinemas, home theaters, screening rooms, arenas used for entertainment or sports purposes such as gymnasiums, stadiums, and theaters and all other buildings which require high fidelity sound reproduction, all use floating floors in their structure.