If the floor is to be handed down
Solid is what applies.
Solid takes five sandings or more over its life. A floating floor takes considerably fewer, because the wear layer has a thickness and that thickness is the limit.
14 mm multilayer with an overlapping click joint. Laid over the existing subfloor, without adhesive, and walked on the same day.
What it is
Wood on top, stability underneath.
A floating wood floor is an engineered board with a click joint. On top there is a layer of fine wood; underneath, a core of cross-laid plies that moves far less than a solid board when humidity changes. The overlapping joint does the rest: the boards lock into each other and the whole assembly rests on the floor without being glued to it.
That is where the site advantage comes from: no adhesive, no curing time, and nothing existing has to be broken up. It is laid over the existing subfloor, even over sound and level ceramic tiles, and walked on the same day.
- Thickness14 mm
- InstallationOverlapping click joint, no adhesive.
- SubstrateExisting subfloor, level and dry.
- On siteNo waiting: laid and handed over.
The usual confusion
A floating floor is not a laminate.
They are laid the same way, they are called something similar, and in a photograph they look alike. The difference is the top layer. In a floating wood floor that layer is wood: it has thickness, it can be sanded, and it ages the way wood ages. In a laminate it is a printed sheet over a board, and once it is scratched there is nothing underneath to recover.
The difference matters most in a store or an office, where the floor takes more people in a year than a home does in ten. Laminate solves a short deadline; a floating wood floor solves a short deadline without giving up the material.
- Wear layerWood with thickness, not a print.
- RepairA damaged board is swapped without lifting the rest.
- AgeingIt shifts with light, like any wood.
When something else is better
Floating is not always the answer.
There are three situations where another system is the right one, and saying so beforehand avoids the problem. The choice is made with the project in hand, not with the catalogue.
If there are rolling loads
Glued is what applies.
Stores, service kitchens and areas where trolleys circulate ask for a floor bonded to the subfloor. A floor that merely rests behaves differently under a repeated point load.
If there is standing water
Wood does not apply.
Showers, cold rooms and wash-down areas are out. Teak resists humidity and splashing, which is a different thing: where water stays, another material is better, and it is better said.
Questions
What we always get asked.
Can a floating floor be sanded?
Yes, but with a limit: the wear layer is what gets sanded, and that layer has a set thickness. It is enough to bring the floor back once or twice over its life, not the five times a solid floor allows. When the floor has to last generations, solid is what applies.
Does it need acclimatisation before laying?
No, because the board arrives stabilised and with the UV finish already cured at the plant. That is the difference from a floor finished on top of the site: there, there is waiting, smell and sanding dust over a project that was already finished.
Can it go over existing ceramic tiles?
Yes, if the tiles are sound, dry and level. It is why many stores and offices choose it: it avoids demolition, debris removal and a new screed, which is where the days go. If there are loose tiles or unevenness, that is corrected first.
Is it noisy underfoot?
A floor that rests sounds different from a glued one, and in an empty room it is noticeable. It is reduced with the right underlay and a properly resolved perimeter. In a furnished space with people in it, it stops being an issue.
Is it suitable for a commercial space, or only for homes?
It is suitable, and it is where it pays off most: a store that cannot close for two weeks finds here a way to change its floor in a short window. What changes relative to a home is the species and the wear-layer thickness, both chosen for traffic.
How long does installation take?
Less than any other system, because there is no curing and no later finishing. The schedule is set by the area and the condition of the subfloor, and it is committed against the opening date, not against an average.
Next step
Two ways to start.
Have a detail that is only half resolved?
Send us the drawing, the section or a photo of the reference and we will tell you how it is produced: which profile, which joint and in what time frame. No commitment.
Send a detailIs the project already defined?
Tell us what you need, with drawings or with an idea of the scale. We reply with a proposal and a delivery date committed against your opening.
Request a proposal