Floating Hardwood Flooring vs. Traditional Tongue and Groove Hardwood Flooring

Many of our customers ask us the difference between these two options in hardwood flooring. Both of these types of floors have benefits and drawbacks. Understanding the primary difference between the two will assist you in selecting the proper flooring for your home project.

Floating hardwood flooring does not utilize nails or adhesives during installation. This type of floating floor installation can be much easier to install for the DIY’er compared to the traditional nail or glue installation methods. Furthermore, not utilizing adhesives reduces any possible toxicity in your home.

Floating floors are able to expand and contract with changes in humidity in your home. They are able to slightly expand or contract as a full unit, so you will never see gap between the boards. The only type of gap issue you may experience would be on the outer edge in which the base might not cover the material. For this reason we do recommend acclimating your floor in your home for a minimum of a few weeks, but the longer the better. The closer you can get the floor to your homes humidity level, the less expansion and contraction will occur.

One misconception of floating floors is that they sound hollow like pergo floors. Pergo or laminates are an inexpensive plastic option and that is why they sound that way. In contrast our durable hardwood floors are a solid, natural wood material that sounds just like the traditional wood method.

The amount of wear layer the floor has is another concern from our clients when comparing the options. All of our floors have the same ability to be sanded and re-coated as a traditional hardwood floor. However, be aware that their are flooring options in floating floors that are just a very thin veneer. We do not sell these low quality options as that type of floating floor is inferior to the traditional materials.

Should you have further questions or concerns on this topic please send us an email or give us a call and we will be happy to assist with your specific flooring situation.

Example of Traditional T&G  hardwood flooring

Example of a floating floor and the locking mechanism