tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3 2008-07-16T20:00:11Z Movable Type Personal 4.1 tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.912 2008-09-17T15:00:21Z 2008-07-16T20:00:11Z

Q: I have Bruce Hardwood Oak prefinished flooring in my kitchen. I use Pledge Hardwood Floor Cleaner and a large terry mop and all seems fine. My husband and I recently saw a steam cleaner and we were wondering if that would be better. Our floor installer said water was the floors worst enemy - which made me wonder about the long term effect of steam cleaning. By the way we love our Bruce Flooring. Thanks advance for your help. A: I would avoid using any form of steam cleaner on a hardwood floor. Your installer is right on, water can be the worst enemy of any wood floor, but so can shifts in temperature. With a steam cleaner, you...

Bentley Pascoe I have Bruce Hardwood Oak prefinished flooring in my kitchen. I use Pledge Hardwood Floor Cleaner and a large terry mop and all seems fine. My husband and I recently saw a steam cleaner and we were wondering if that would be better. Our floor installer said water was the floors worst enemy - which made me wonder about the long term effect of steam cleaning. By the way we love our Bruce Flooring. Thanks advance for your help. A: I would avoid using any form of steam cleaner on a hardwood floor. Your installer is right on, water can be the worst enemy of any wood floor, but so can shifts in temperature. With a steam cleaner, you would be very quickly applying both heat and moisture to your floor, which means for a brief moment as the floor is heated, it will expand, then contract as it returns to its normal temperature. This expansion and contraction, albeit minor, can cause gapping to occur over time. The current method you are using is good and suggested. Using an approved cleaner (no wax or oil-base cleaners), spray a light mist over the floor then follow up with a microfiber or terrycloth mop head to clean and dry the floor. The easiest way to think here is akin to a swiffer, a small amount of cleaner goes a long way with wood floors. You can also lightly damn your mop, but make sure it is very little moisture as you don't want excessive moisture or standing moisture on the floor. Its sometimes advisable to follow up with a dry terrycloth towel to ensure any and all remaining moisture is removed from the floor.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.911 2008-09-16T15:05:14Z 2008-08-07T21:24:23Z

This is just a quick post to celebrate the 500th blog post here on the Ask the Expert blog at iFLOOR. Although we have helped answer questions for more people than just the 500 posted here thus far, even helping 500 people is something of an honor. As a special bonus beyond today's question, I wanted to shed a bit of light onto the team here whom we refer to as "the think tank," beyond yours truly. Tad A., Director of Install for iFLOOR, has been in the flooring industry for 25 years. Tad has installed more floors than most folks can fathom and his insights come from raw experience. Gene D., iFLOOR's Commercial Contract Manager, who has been an...

Bentley Pascoe This is just a quick post to celebrate the 500th blog post here on the Ask the Expert blog at iFLOOR. Although we have helped answer questions for more people than just the 500 posted here thus far, even helping 500 people is something of an honor. As a special bonus beyond today's question, I wanted to shed a bit of light onto the team here whom we refer to as "the think tank," beyond yours truly. Tad A., Director of Install for iFLOOR, has been in the flooring industry for 25 years. Tad has installed more floors than most folks can fathom and his insights come from raw experience. Gene D., iFLOOR's Commercial Contract Manager, who has been an installer and project manager and commercial finisher for nearly 40 years. Gene does some amazing commercial work, ranging from high-end homes to hospitals, resorts and even a Buddhist temple. Beyond these two we also get occasional feedback and even ideas for our editorials from members of iFLOOR's customer service team and sales team members. On behalf of the iFLOOR team, we are proud to help each and every person who has a question and thank you to all the readers of the Ask the Expert blog! tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.909 2008-09-16T15:00:58Z 2008-07-16T15:37:08Z

Q: We have a client using konecto and want to know what transition should we use going to a sealed concrete floor? Eva A: Since you will be going down to a lower height surface, your best bet here is to use a reducer strip. You might want to look into a rubber or metal reducer such as those made by Schluter or Johnsonite. If you want something with a wood grain, you can look into a unfinished wood mold and stain it to match the Konecto coloring. I personally would prefer to go the route of a rubber transition, as this allows for some flexibility and no worries with moisture, much like Konecto's water proof benefits....

Bentley Pascoe We have a client using konecto and want to know what transition should we use going to a sealed concrete floor? Eva A: Since you will be going down to a lower height surface, your best bet here is to use a reducer strip. You might want to look into a rubber or metal reducer such as those made by Schluter or Johnsonite. If you want something with a wood grain, you can look into a unfinished wood mold and stain it to match the Konecto coloring. I personally would prefer to go the route of a rubber transition, as this allows for some flexibility and no worries with moisture, much like Konecto's water proof benefits.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.906 2008-09-15T15:00:54Z 2008-07-15T19:10:53Z

Q: Hello; my question is this, we are putting new floor in our living room and very much want Bamboo, but we have read horror stories that bamboo scratches quite easily. Is this true and do you recommend Hardwood over Bamboo? Also can you give me a recommendation for a good Bamboo Manufacturer? We have 2 dogs and a cat if this makes any difference. Thank you for your assistance, Bobbi A: Much as any other flooring product, although they are many bamboo floors out there, they are not all created equal. Each bamboo floor has a different finish - some can be easily scratched, others are just ill-cared for. Preventative maintenance is very important with any wood floor, whether...

Bentley Pascoe Hello; my question is this, we are putting new floor in our living room and very much want Bamboo, but we have read horror stories that bamboo scratches quite easily. Is this true and do you recommend Hardwood over Bamboo? Also can you give me a recommendation for a good Bamboo Manufacturer? We have 2 dogs and a cat if this makes any difference. Thank you for your assistance, Bobbi A: Much as any other flooring product, although they are many bamboo floors out there, they are not all created equal. Each bamboo floor has a different finish - some can be easily scratched, others are just ill-cared for. Preventative maintenance is very important with any wood floor, whether its bamboo, oak, or even laminate. This means regular cleaning, using entry mats at exterior doorways, keeping your pet's nails clipped. This type of maintenance prevents a majority of scratches that floors receive. This being said, it also becomes important to choose a floor which is higher quality in both construction and finish. Keep in mind that scratches are almost purely dependent on the finish applied to the floor, where as denting is a matter of the material of the floor. If you are worried about potential denting, do not look into carbonized bamboo as it is far softer or look into a handscraped product as denting will be masked and blend into the natural appearance of the floor. You could also look into strand woven bamboo for a bit more durability. For handscraped or strand woven floors, look into Ming Dynasty. For a more traditional looking bamboo, look into Westhollow or Teragren's solid bamboo floors or the engineered bamboo floors from Springwood. These brands all carry aluminum oxide modified finishes for greater abrasion resistance, much like many of the finishes applied to solid wood flooring. In the end its a matter of opinion, many hardwood floors are just as easy to damage as bamboo if improper care is taken of the floor, so as long as you install a floor which you like after doing some research and take good care of it, you should not be one of those horror stories you hear about.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.905 2008-09-14T15:00:15Z 2008-07-15T18:07:24Z

Q: I am in the process of opening a retail ice cream and chocolates store and wanted to know what the best synthetic wood flooring is. Mannington? Amtico? Spacia? Spatica? etc. Thank you, Bill A: To be honest there is no singular "best" floor out there. Many manufacturers create varying levels of flooring, each with its own benefits from more economical lines, to their top tier products. Amtico makes a fairly nice vinyl series, Spacia, but so does Konecto, Mannington, and many others out there. The benefit of a wood appearing vinyl is that you now have a flooring which is water proof, unlike laminate flooring. Although laminate is a bit better at getting the wood look, your run into...

Bentley Pascoe I am in the process of opening a retail ice cream and chocolates store and wanted to know what the best synthetic wood flooring is. Mannington? Amtico? Spacia? Spatica? etc. Thank you, Bill A: To be honest there is no singular "best" floor out there. Many manufacturers create varying levels of flooring, each with its own benefits from more economical lines, to their top tier products. Amtico makes a fairly nice vinyl series, Spacia, but so does Konecto, Mannington, and many others out there. The benefit of a wood appearing vinyl is that you now have a flooring which is water proof, unlike laminate flooring. Although laminate is a bit better at getting the wood look, your run into potential damage should excessive moisture get on the floor. Your best bet would be to look into a wood appearing vinyl. Konecto is a good choice here as it's unique construction allows for replacement of planks rather easily should unfortunate damage occur. Other vinyl choices can be good as well, but make sure you are finding one which is commercially rated. Other resilient floor types such as Amtico's Stratica or VCT are also very good choices. For vinyl, Spacia and Konecto would be two of the better choices out there. Otherwise look into products like VCT or Stratica.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.904 2008-09-13T15:00:59Z 2008-07-15T17:04:34Z

Q: We were looking at installing hardwood floors and like the way we could change the width of the board. Is this possible in the laminate floors? We have particle board as a subfloor. Is there anyway we can have plank hardwood with this subfloor? Thanks Bobbi A: I can only think of one multiple width laminate collection out there, which would be Armstrong's American Duet collection which features a wide and narrow plank of each pattern. This being said, its hard to get the random width plank look from laminate floors, but far easier with engineered wood floors. If you were to get an engineered wood floor which was approved for floating installations you could get a random width...

Bentley Pascoe We were looking at installing hardwood floors and like the way we could change the width of the board. Is this possible in the laminate floors? We have particle board as a subfloor. Is there anyway we can have plank hardwood with this subfloor? Thanks Bobbi A: I can only think of one multiple width laminate collection out there, which would be Armstrong's American Duet collection which features a wide and narrow plank of each pattern. This being said, its hard to get the random width plank look from laminate floors, but far easier with engineered wood floors. If you were to get an engineered wood floor which was approved for floating installations you could get a random width looking floor which is able to be installed over a particle board subfloor. Keep in mind with particle board its best to stick to a floating floor, although some can take glue down, its best to avoid glue down when possible.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.902 2008-09-12T15:00:18Z 2008-07-15T16:02:34Z

Q: We are planning to put a wood-look laminate floor in our kitchen and foyer. This is a high traffic area. We were told it has a 25- year guarantee. At $9.60 per square foot (including installation) we want to be sure we are getting good value for quite a bit of money. Any suggestions you can give will be appreciated. Also, what would be the advantage, if any, to putting in porcelain tile? We already have ceramic tile with cracks, chips and crumbling grout. Thank you. Ann A: I can't think of very many floors which would cost this much, even installed, which would run in the upper $9 range. One thing to keep in mind is that not...

Bentley Pascoe We are planning to put a wood-look laminate floor in our kitchen and foyer. This is a high traffic area. We were told it has a 25- year guarantee. At $9.60 per square foot (including installation) we want to be sure we are getting good value for quite a bit of money. Any suggestions you can give will be appreciated. Also, what would be the advantage, if any, to putting in porcelain tile? We already have ceramic tile with cracks, chips and crumbling grout. Thank you. Ann A: I can't think of very many floors which would cost this much, even installed, which would run in the upper $9 range. One thing to keep in mind is that not all laminate is created equal and warranties often matter very little. What is important is to determine who makes the floor and what collection it is, then determine the laminate's AC rating as this will give you a better idea of how it compares to other floors. As a couple comparisons. If you were to install Westhollow's South Pacific, which is their premiere line, plus 6mm cork underlayment and the gold package installation you would be spending just under $7/sf and the South Pacific has a 50 year warranty. Another quick comparison QuickStep Perspective, another premiere line, with 6mm cork underlayment and gold installation would be right around $8/sf on a product which features a lifetime residential warranty. Now keep in mind, there is some small variance here as labor costs differ from place to place, but generally speaking this is fairly accurate for some of the best laminate floors on the market with AC ratings in a commercial level. If we take the comparisons here, the important part is the abrasion ratings. A warranty will generally tell you how much a company believes in that product, but beyond that, the important ratings are how they perform in lab tests such as taber testing. Generally AC ratings will tell you how well a floor will weather traffic - so compare these before comparing warranties as the damage caused to your average floor is never covered by a warranty. In the end here, the floor you are looking at seems a bit spendy for laminate and I would make sure you get a bit more background on it - who makes it, what collection is it, where is it manufactured and what's its AC ratings or how did it perform in taber testing when compared to floors like Pergo Select, QuickStep Perspective and similar top tier laminate floors.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.901 2008-09-11T15:00:49Z 2008-07-14T23:40:15Z

Q: I have just install a engineered hardwood floor and I suspect the floor did not adhere to the substrate (e.g. popping noise after I walk over the area in question). I have heard about a kit that might help which involves a syringe and adhesive. I guess you drill a 1/16 inch hole then shoot the adhesive into the affected area. Questions: Is this the only way to fix the popping? What adhesive do I use? The same as I used to initially lay the flooring? Is the 1/16" drill bit the correct size? How do I fill the hole? Thanks in Advance, Chris A: Typically the noise you are encountering with a glue-down floor occurs when the glue...

Bentley Pascoe I have just install a engineered hardwood floor and I suspect the floor did not adhere to the substrate (e.g. popping noise after I walk over the area in question). I have heard about a kit that might help which involves a syringe and adhesive. I guess you drill a 1/16 inch hole then shoot the adhesive into the affected area. Questions:

1. Is this the only way to fix the popping?
2. What adhesive do I use? The same as I used to initially lay the flooring?
3. Is the 1/16" drill bit the correct size?
4. How do I fill the hole?

Thanks in Advance, Chris A: Typically the noise you are encountering with a glue-down floor occurs when the glue cures and air pockets are under the wood. Since these air pockets exist, the flooring itself can flex ever so slightly, making the popping noises. The method suggested to you is a pretty common fix for both glued down wood floors and rolled out vinyl or linoleum. The 1/16" size is also common, as this allows for a smaller hole that is large enough to fit an injector, think like a caulking gun, filled with the adhesive used to lay the floor to fit into place to force more adhesive down into the air pocket to fill it and finish anchoring the floor to the subfloor. To fill the hole, just take a floor putty, colored matches as close as you can and just fill the holes with putty. You could also mix a bit of dust from the holes into the putty to help make sure it color matches closely. Do your best to let the injected adhesive cure before filling with putty to help make sure you can keep it nice and level.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.900 2008-09-10T15:00:50Z 2008-07-14T22:20:09Z

Q: My husband and I want to put cork in our bedroom/business areas on the second floor. We are looking at Granville Grey or Rainforest Green Eurocork and a few others with reddish or green swirling effects versus the cork or particle board look. We were hoping to spend about $3.99/floating plank. So here are my questions: How do I choose the seal? Some say they are sealed with lacquer and others with acrylic while some aren't finished at all, it appears. Do we need the underlying cushion? We have an installer but I don't think he's familiar with cork. He just laid our wood laminate flooring and did a lovely job. What would last the longest and remain nice...

Bentley Pascoe My husband and I want to put cork in our bedroom/business areas on the second floor. We are looking at Granville Grey or Rainforest Green Eurocork and a few others with reddish or green swirling effects versus the cork or particle board look. We were hoping to spend about $3.99/floating plank. So here are my questions:

1. How do I choose the seal? Some say they are sealed with lacquer and others with acrylic while some aren't finished at all, it appears.
2. Do we need the underlying cushion? We have an installer but I don't think he's familiar with cork. He just laid our wood laminate flooring and did a lovely job.
3. What would last the longest and remain nice looking in our situation?
4. Are there companies you recommend over others?
5. A friend of mine told me to be careful with cork- it's recently gotten negative press. What is that about?

Thanks so much! Barbara Parker, Colorado, USA A: There are several very nice color choices amongst cork floors out there both from Eurocork and APC and choosing the best cork for your price range and taste can be tricky. Let's dig in on your questions: As far as finish is concerned, both lacquer and acrylics perform fairly well with cork so it becomes a matter of opinion. If you prefer a more environmentally friendly finish, look into the water-based acrylic finishes. Keep in mind that both of this finishes are built to flex a bit more so that they do not crack when the cork flexes, which means they are not as abrasion resistant as some of the other finishes out there, but their flexibility helps to prevent damage as well. If the environmental aspect does not matter to you, acrylics tend to be a bit easier to screen for future applications of new finish layers over time. With floating cork floors, some will require an underlayment and others will recommend it, but in the end if you want to ensure you get a quieter floor, use some underlayment and stick with cork. using 3mm or 6mm cork under a floating cork floor keeps the same density, which means the floor will have a consistent feel under foot, just enough cushion to be comfortable, but dense enough to sound and feel more like a solid wood floor. Floating cork floors feature locking systems very similar to laminate - so your installer should be able to easily install a floating cork floor. For cork manufacturer's there are several very good ones out there, with APC, Eurocork and Westhollow being my preferences. This ties into the press question you have as well as most of the better manufacturers are made in Europe. All corks are not equal! Typically the cork flooring getting a bad rep is the stuff made in China where manufacturing processes are less stringent and the final flooring produced rarely meets E1 or lower emission standards. European made cork floors on the other hand, especially those made in Portugal, go under very stringent processes and are some of the most environmentally friendly floors available today. Overall you are on a pretty good track with Eurocork, though you might also want to check out APC's plank collections as these are another great color choice for floating cork. Choose a finish that fits your taste and you should be all set.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.899 2008-09-09T15:00:35Z 2008-07-14T19:10:30Z

Q: It seems we have inadvertently turned one of our bedrooms into a cat box. As our cute little feline would have it, the carpet is now destroyed. Under the carpet was once beautiful hardwood. I had bought a nice Berber to replace the carpet, but have since thought twice about installing it towards its certain doom. Is there something I can lay on top of the hardwood that can withstand frequent "spills" and daily mopping? Something that won't totally destroy the hardwood underneath? (If not already destroyed) OR Is there something I can use as a sealer / protector for the existing hardwood after its reconditioned? Like several gallons of shellac? Your help and advice is greatly appreciated. Jeff...

Bentley Pascoe It seems we have inadvertently turned one of our bedrooms into a cat box. As our cute little feline would have it, the carpet is now destroyed. Under the carpet was once beautiful hardwood. I had bought a nice Berber to replace the carpet, but have since thought twice about installing it towards its certain doom. Is there something I can lay on top of the hardwood that can withstand frequent "spills" and daily mopping? Something that won't totally destroy the hardwood underneath? (If not already destroyed) OR Is there something I can use as a sealer / protector for the existing hardwood after its reconditioned? Like several gallons of shellac? Your help and advice is greatly appreciated. Jeff A: With wood floors, pet urine can do some pretty nasty things. Unlike normal spills of other moisture, pet urine tend to causes a blackening when absorbed into wood as well as any other warping issues. Assuming the floor is still in good shape once you remove the current carpet, you will want to have the wood flooring sanded down to prepare for a finish. Before applying any finish, if you wish to stain the floor, make sure you apply your stain. As far as a finish is concerned, this will act as a seal to prevent moisture from getting through to the wood, but it is not fool proof. Even with multiple layers of site applied finish, there is still a chance that some moisture can get past the finish layer to the wood beneath. Now if messes are attended to fairly quickly, within a couple of minutes or so, then you should have a slim chance of any problems happening to the flooring, but if its likely some messes will be left for several hours, while at work for instance, then you might be better off looking into a product which is waterproof such as vinyl or linoleum. Unfortunately, despite what is applied to the top of the wood surface, there is no way to make a floor truly prevent any chance of moisture damage despite sealing products and finishes - so if you will be having to keep up with your feline friend, your best bet is to look into a flooring option which is built to take this type of abuse.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.896 2008-09-08T15:00:55Z 2008-07-14T16:54:30Z

Q: We are about 1/2 way done with finishing our basement. We pretty much have everything "floor wise" decided except for the exercise room. The floor is currently cement, but we want to give the builders/contractors an idea soon as to what we should order and install in there What would you recommend? Thank you! T and K A: There is a myriad of options out there for basements, but it will be massively dependent on what traffic and weight you expect this floor to handle as well as what your tastes are. Let's look into installation methods, what those installations can handle and then what products would fit. For a basement, since we are talking concrete you are limited...

Bentley Pascoe We are about 1/2 way done with finishing our basement. We pretty much have everything "floor wise" decided except for the exercise room. The floor is currently cement, but we want to give the builders/contractors an idea soon as to what we should order and install in there What would you recommend? Thank you! T and K A: There is a myriad of options out there for basements, but it will be massively dependent on what traffic and weight you expect this floor to handle as well as what your tastes are. Let's look into installation methods, what those installations can handle and then what products would fit. For a basement, since we are talking concrete you are limited to either floating or glue-down floors. Each install has its benefits, so let's go over the quick points. Floating floors are easier to install and replacement work can typically be done with much less fuss. The downside to floating installations is that they are not as load bearing, and rather heavy items can not go on floating floors very well, especially at the edges of the floor. Glue-down installations are the most difficult installation, but when done properly they create a very solid floor which is better suited to heavier furniture, such as in weight rooms. The downside of a glue-down floor is that replacements are incredibly difficult and it is the most likely installation type to fail if not done by a professional. So now we have a basic concept of what installs we are looking at and what those mean - in rooms with almost no heavy furniture look into floating floors, for the exercise room, if you plan to have several weight machines or free weights, I would go with a glue-down floor. Now, once we decide install we need to look into product. For a glue-down floor look into engineered hardwood or cork. Cork is a great choice for a exercise room as it naturally absorbs and removes most denting on its own via cork's memory feature where it slowly tries to return to its original state, thus dents will push out over time. Also, cork is a bit more comfortable under foot. The down side with cork is that you can't drag furniture over it, which means when moving machines or weights around, you need to be careful or you could gouge the cork. Also, cork can not be refinished only screened. So if gouges occur you can't later remove them by sanding the floor and finishing it again. Engineered hardwood is a good choice as well because you get a large selection of floors and if you choose a harder species like exotics, maple or similar floors, you will be less likely to dent them and what dents occur will not be as deep, hiding them some. Hardwood will also allow for a more solid surface under furniture and machines, meaning that those with a caster of some form can be more freely moved. The downside to hardwood is that is that dents and dings are permanent unless you choose to refinish the floor. If this room will be used for yoga or less machine or weight oriented exercise, floating floors are a great choice. Most cork and engineered hardwood can be installed as a floating floor, and the benefits are similar, but the other option now would be laminate. Laminate is tough, plain and simple its built for abuse when compared to other wood floors. The downside to laminate, once you damage it there is no turning back as it can not be screened or refinished and the image of wood on its surface is paper thin, so gouges will stick out like a sore thumb, though they are difficult to cause with proper care. A final option here would be to look into vinyl or stone and tile. This types of floors are far more resilient and can take quite the amount of abuse. The only downside here is that you might get a floor which is a bit colder under foot unless you use a radiant heat system with them. Overall, the "less fuss" options would be cork or vinyl, but again, find something that can be glued down or floated, depending on what will be in the room, then choose a color or pattern you love and put it in.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.895 2008-09-07T15:00:11Z 2008-07-14T16:54:57Z

Q: I am wondering how to add IIC ratings for two different materials, as I know that I can't simply "add" them together for the total score. I am meeting a lot of resistance in my condo regarding installing wood floors because of noise issues. I found an ASTN test result that tested a similar carpet & pad to what was originally in the unit for an IIC rating of 54. If I use an underlayment that has an IIC of 58, would that number be reduced when coupled with the engineered hardwood floating floor that will be installed over it? I can find IIC testing for carpet/pad systems, but no test conducted with actual wood *over* the underlayment, so...

Bentley Pascoe I am wondering how to add IIC ratings for two different materials, as I know that I can't simply "add" them together for the total score. I am meeting a lot of resistance in my condo regarding installing wood floors because of noise issues. I found an ASTN test result that tested a similar carpet & pad to what was originally in the unit for an IIC rating of 54. If I use an underlayment that has an IIC of 58, would that number be reduced when coupled with the engineered hardwood floating floor that will be installed over it? I can find IIC testing for carpet/pad systems, but no test conducted with actual wood *over* the underlayment, so I'm not sure what the IIC rating would be for the overall system! Is there a mathematical way to determine what the overall IIC rating would be for my flooring system? Also, is the difference typically audible, compared to carpet, if one doesn't wear shoes? Hope you can help me! Alia A: Most IIC ratings for wood flooring underlayment is calculated with a layer of 5/8" bare plywood laid over the top of the underlayment to act as a pseudo floor. This means the ratings should be pretty accurate to what you will get with a finished floor over the underlayment. The primary difference you get between carpet and hard surface flooring is that your feet impact the hard surface first with a wood floor, where as with carpet that impact is cushioned before hitting the subfloor's hard surface. If you choose to not wear shoes over a wood floor there will be an audible difference in your condo, but overall the impact transfer should be roughly the same going to other units. If you want the room itself to sound quieter, walk around in socks and it will reduce sound quite a bit. This is especially the case with high heeled shoes as they are very noisy over wood floors and can cause denting, so avoid wearing them when possible. Overall, if you have concerns about your condo board, you could combine underlayments, such as using 6mm and 3mm cork or 6mm cork and sound 6, but typically this is overkill for most condos and 6mm cork tends to be enough or various other underlayments out there which are denser modified-foams or rubber.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.894 2008-09-06T15:00:48Z 2008-07-14T16:58:09Z

Q: inherited a 10 year old laminated floor. it was placed over tile. don't know more of history. previous owner had metal strips as thresholds between laminate and carpet. wanted to replaced the metal with more attractive wood strip. found could not glue threshold to edge of sub-floor beneath the laminate because edging of laminate is uneven, not squared or consistent. have used screws to hold wood strip in place. problem came when i noticed a popping noise when walking on the floor after putting down the strip. it seems the screws going thru the wood and thru the laminate have apparently put a stress on the laminate section (not all of them) and cause a portion of the laminate...

Bentley Pascoe inherited a 10 year old laminated floor. it was placed over tile. don't know more of history. previous owner had metal strips as thresholds between laminate and carpet. wanted to replaced the metal with more attractive wood strip. found could not glue threshold to edge of sub-floor beneath the laminate because edging of laminate is uneven, not squared or consistent. have used screws to hold wood strip in place. problem came when i noticed a popping noise when walking on the floor after putting down the strip. it seems the screws going thru the wood and thru the laminate have apparently put a stress on the laminate section (not all of them) and cause a portion of the laminate to raise up. i used 1 inch screws. my theory is the screws did not penetrate thru the tiles beneath the laminate and when tightened at the wood strip threshold, it caused the middle of the laminate plate to bend upward. other theory is that one o more of the tiles beneath the laminate are either cracked or the old glue is no longer holding and when the edge if pulled tight against the wood strip, the far edge of the tile is bent upwards by the stress. i assume my 1 inch screws are well seated in the tiles. the popping/creaking as i walk on that part of the floor is not acceptable. we can't see it as being obviously raised. but laying down, getting the eye close to the laminate, i can push on it and see it move. is there a way to solve this creaking sound? replacing the laminate, even a small section of it is not an option....a match can't be found. A: If the screws are going through the laminate that is your problem. Laminate is a floating floor, which means it is not meant to be anchored to the subfloor at any one point. If it gets anchored at one point, then you run into the exact problems you are seeing, as the floor shifts ever so slightly raised areas and noise occur at the anchor point. Your best course of action here would be to remove the screws and transition strip and replace with an overlapping transition which uses a track system. Use liquid nails to install the track to the subfloor, allowing a small gap between the track and floor so the floor can shift. Then snap the overlapping trim in place and it should cover the expansion gap and a portion of your floor.]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.893 2008-09-05T15:00:29Z 2008-07-14T16:58:36Z

Q: As a "floating" product what are the weight restrictions for Konecto plank flooring ? ie; furniture, free standing kitchen islands, refrigerators, stoves, and in particular free standing hearth & wood stove with a total weight of about 600# ? I have 1/4" separations of planks around the wood stove area. Floor was professionally installed - and now they are going to replace/repair. No one seems to know if there are weight limits - they say not but it doesn't make sense to me. A: If this is only happening around the stove, I'm willing to bet that this is a matter of environment. With the Konecto line, the adhesive in the seams remains somewhat active so that planks can...

Bentley Pascoe As a "floating" product what are the weight restrictions for Konecto plank flooring ? ie; furniture, free standing kitchen islands, refrigerators, stoves, and in particular free standing hearth & wood stove with a total weight of about 600# ? I have 1/4" separations of planks around the wood stove area. Floor was professionally installed - and now they are going to replace/repair. No one seems to know if there are weight limits - they say not but it doesn't make sense to me. A: If this is only happening around the stove, I'm willing to bet that this is a matter of environment. With the Konecto line, the adhesive in the seams remains somewhat active so that planks can be removed and replaced at any time and heat could cause this adhesive area to lift away when it normally would not with the weight on the floor. Now if your stove is one where it has very few contact points to the ground, rather than a larger base, and it happens to contact right near a seam this could be another issue, but typically a 250lbs. roller is used to ensure that floors like Konecto are properly laid down, so it should be able to handle 600lbs. worth of weight. Your best bet would be to contact Konecto directly and ask for their load bearing information. Most vinyl floors can handle quite a bit of weight, but the best source is always the manufacturer. ]]> tag:www.ifloor.com,2008:/flooringexpert//3.892 2008-09-04T15:00:44Z 2008-07-14T16:59:05Z

Q: I am opening a dance/yoga studio and of course, on a shoestring budget! I am interested in bamboo for ecological reasons, and wonder if you know if it is a good choice for this use. My floor (1350 sf) concrete covered by linoleum. I believe the recommended treatment is to spring the floor by laying down slats first. Do you know about this? And have you ever heard of a sprung bamboo floor? Thank you, Christie in Hatfield, Mass. A: Most dance floors nowadays are sold as kits and the typical surface, much like most basketball courts, is maple. Most commonly these are sold unfinished so that the floor can be sanded flat and site finished after installation to...

Bentley Pascoe I am opening a dance/yoga studio and of course, on a shoestring budget! I am interested in bamboo for ecological reasons, and wonder if you know if it is a good choice for this use. My floor (1350 sf) concrete covered by linoleum. I believe the recommended treatment is to spring the floor by laying down slats first. Do you know about this? And have you ever heard of a sprung bamboo floor? Thank you, Christie in Hatfield, Mass. A: Most dance floors nowadays are sold as kits and the typical surface, much like most basketball courts, is maple. Most commonly these are sold unfinished so that the floor can be sanded flat and site finished after installation to ensure there is no area with variance in floor height and to ensure a finish formulated for this traffic level is used. There are some other kits out there that use a tile like set up or larger floor piece similar to sheets of plywood in size which are done by professional dance studio finishers. Does this mean a sprung bamboo floor can't be done? No. If you were to go with bamboo you would need to use something other than the traditional 3' planks. These are simply too small and the slight flex the floor has would be murder on the floor. Your best bet is to look into a floating product, as these are naturally built to flex slightly. Look into something like Springwood's click-together line and use a 3mm cork underlayment as this will maintain enough support under foot to prevent the floor from being too springy, while giving just enough flex to cushion movement as the sprung floor is intended to do. Keep in mind that most dance floors receive regular finish schedules, where the floor is re-screened or refinished every couple of years (depending on traffic levels of course). In you case, screening will become something for your floor to keep the finish look good after a few years of use. I will caution here that if you choose bamboo, go with a natural bamboo as it is more likely to resist denting than carbonized and if you intend to have folks in high heels (ball room rather than ballet dancing for instance) then you may want to look into a more resilient species than bamboo as high heels will cause denting to bamboo over time. Another ecological choice here would be something like an engineered cork. I know several yoga studios which use cork and now swear by it for comfort, but this can be a matter of taste as cork has some very unique appearances that might not fit what you are trying to achieve.]]>