FLOATING FLOOR

Michael Holigan: If you're like a lot of people there will probably come a time when you want to replace some of the flooring in your home. There are a lot of products out there to choose from. You may be surprised, but a lot of them you can actually install yourself. Al's going to show us today how to install this beautiful floating floor.

Al Carrell: Now the flooring we've selected is one that's been popular over in Europe for many, many years. Just about three years ago they brought it over to this country and it really is sweeping the country. Look at that, isn't that a great looking floor? It looks exactly like maple wood, but it's a composite product. Well Richard, how is this product made?

Richard Wylie: Well as you mentioned Al, it is a composite construction and essentially we start out with a high pressure decorative laminate on the face side of the panel. That's bonded to a high-density fiber board core and then the construction is actually balanced out with a high pressure laminate backer sheet.

AC: Well now Richard, as you can imagine, we're really interested in something that can stand up to a lot of abuse being down here on the beach. What about the durability of this?

RW: Actually Al, what we do is we enhance the surface to make it more durable than what you would traditionally find on a laminate countertop, about 10 times the wear resistance, so it's extremely durable.

AC: Now the first thing we had to do was to remove the carpet and I've got to tell you, my wife, Jean, really did most of this. She took up the carpet and the pad and the tack strips and now all we have to do is remove what's left on here, and we'll be ready to go with the flooring. Well now Terry, we got the floor all cleaned up and here you are putting Saran wrap over it.

Terry: Right. This is plastic film that we put over the top to block the moisture.

AC: It's not really Saran wrap then, is it?

T: No. It's a plastic made specifically for this.

AC: Okay, well why do we have to worry about moisture? I mean, this is a concrete floor. It's going to be covered up.

T: We have moisture in the air, especially down here around the water. You have a lot of moisture that will travel up and this prevents any from coming up and gathering and forming a puddle of any kind.

AC: All right. Now, as I understand it, this is the next step. What is this stuff?

T: Now, this is our foam, which will be going over the entire area before we install the laminate. And it is put down for insulation, for sound, for temperature and also just to make it softer.

AC: How does it go down?

T: Well, we're just going to start at this end and unroll the roll and cut it for the length and it'll just loose lay on top.

AC: And then we can start with the flooring.

T: Then we're ready to go.

AC: All right. Well okay Richard, we've got the foam down over the plastic. What's next?

RW: Okay, we're ready to lay some planks.

AC: Okay, I understand this is called a floating floor. What does that mean?

RW: Floating floors simply said means it is not nailed or glued down to the subfloor.

AC: And that's a good thing?

RW: That's a good thing. We want to allow some movement with this product. And what's critical to allow for that expansion is going be using quarter inch spacers. Okay, what this is going to do is actually leave a spacing so that we can allow for changes in temperature and humidity with the various seasons.

AC: And then we cover up that gap with the quarter round.

RW: That's correct.

AC: Now, what's the next step?

RW: Okay, now what we're going to do is we're actually going to start adhering the panels, or the planks, to one another using an adhesive down in the groove. Okay, now the best thing to remove the adhesive is going to be to take a putty knife and we're actually going to scrape that adhesive up and we'll wind up getting the majority of the glue off of the surface of the floor. Then, we'll come back with a clean rag and we'll actually wipe the rest of the glue up.

AC: Well, that sure looks easy enough. I think I can do that. Let me try one, okay?

RW: Great. Give it a shot.

AC: Now you've probably noticed that we're staggering the length of the boards, and there's a reason for that, actually a couple of reasons. First of all, it's going to look a lot better and then it's going to give a lot more integrity, or strength, to the floor. That slides right in place just like Richard said it would. Now Richard, how much is this going to cost per square foot for somebody who is a do-it-yourselfer?

RW: Well, a do-it-yourselfer typically would pay around $3.50 per square foot for the materials only.

AC: And if you have it installed, do you have any idea what that runs per square foot?

RW: Average installed is about $7.00 a square foot.

AC: Now the reason we're using the tape is so that we can hold these two boards together until the glue sets up. Well, the floor is finished and boy, does it look great. And it's pretty amazing to think that you and your family could install a floor just like this in your own home over weekend. Now, it comes in 20 different wood finishes. It has a 16 year warranty and the only maintenance - a broom and a mop.

Contacts:
Wilsonart: 800-710-8846 or
www.wilsonart.com

Episode 50 1997 - 98 Season

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