Click Together Floating Floors

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With more homeowners tackling home improvement projects themselves, many product manufacturers are developing building materials that are more easily understood and used. One project that many people seem apt to undertake themselves is floating floors.

Floating floors are not secured to the subfloor, but are basically just resting atop a cushioned underlayment. The idea is that if the hardwood floor planks can be made to be snug enough to each other, then there’s no reason to nail, staple, or glue them down. This also makes deconstructing the floor much easier if you decide to change your flooring or need to replace a portion of it due to damage later.

One of the floating floor products that is quickly becoming the most popular choice among do-it-yourself homeowners is the click together floor boards. It’s very similar to the tongue and groove type of flooring, only without the sticky, messy glue, which is what makes it so appealing. Not only are installing click together floors a neater job, they can also be a bit easier than the traditional tongue and groove projects. With some click together floors, the planks can be fitted together without having to hammer them into place.

Thinner laminate-type click together floors can generally be clicked together by hand: meaning that when you install one board next to the previously installed board you will literally hear a “click” and then you move on to the next board.

With thicker hardwood click together floors, however, it may take a bit more effort on your part. Many of these floors employ the same tongue and groove method as tongue and groove wood floors, only because no adhesives are employed the channels and tongues must fit together more snugly. For these floors it is likely that you’ll have to get a tapping block and hammer and drive the boards together.

While installing click together floors are a snap, don’t get carried away and start clicking them right away. The best looking wood floors are carefully planned, so that you don’t end up with board ends lining up several in a row. Before installing anything lay your boards out and find out what works and what doesn’t. Be sure the tongues and grooves are all lining up properly -- you don’t want to wind up with a row of all tongues and no grooves and find out that by spinning one board around, the reverse grain throws off the entire project.

Solid Hardwood / Tongue and Groove / Click / Cork Floating Floors