Barryscotland Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 Need to choose the engineered oak for our lounge. My questions are is there an advantage to glueing over floating and if I float it is there a special or any recommended underlay I will need to use due to the UFH? Fitting costs quoted are a fare bit higher to glue it down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adsibob Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 7 minutes ago, Barryscotland said: Need to choose the engineered oak for our lounge. My questions are is there an advantage to glueing over floating and if I float it is there a special or any recommended underlay I will need to use due to the UFH? Fitting costs quoted are a fare bit higher to glue it down One advantage of gluing is that heat transfer from the UFH to the engineered wood is improved, because there is no air gap. Disadvantage is that if anything goes wrong, it’s harder to take up, but if you plan carefully and do everything by the book you won’t ever need to take it up. Acoustalay do a decent underlay with a built in vapour barrier and overlap. It is only about 3mm thick, but has very good compressive strength: https://www.screwfix.com/p/acoustalay-300-premium-underlay-vapour-barrier-3mm-10m/73764 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 I glued our engineered oak over the UFH, I hate floating floors, always sound hollow (IMO). it’s got to transfer heat better too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryscotland Posted January 27, 2022 Author Share Posted January 27, 2022 Seems like a silly question but would floating it make it "softer" to walk on? Softer is probably the wrong word but im sure you no what I mean, the concrete is hard on the feet so im presuming if the floor is glued straight down it also will be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 6 minutes ago, Barryscotland said: Seems like a silly question but would floating it make it "softer" to walk on? Softer is probably the wrong word but im sure you no what I mean, the concrete is hard on the feet so im presuming if the floor is glued straight down it also will be? Depends on the underlay, but if you are UFH then an insulating layer doesn’t make sense. engineered wood doesn’t have some natural “give” so much different to walking on concrete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 Omg! Excuse my poor English. … then again I am from Barnsley ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 26 minutes ago, markc said: then again I am from Barnsley ? We may need an translator .... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 40 minutes ago, Barryscotland said: Seems like a silly question but would floating it make it "softer" to walk on? Softer is probably the wrong word but im sure you no what I mean, the concrete is hard on the feet so im presuming if the floor is glued straight down it also will be? As oak does not compress under foot at all, nor does any timber for that matter, there will be no discernible difference to concrete other than the smooth finish which will make it feel 'nicer' under foot. Purely phycological imo. I would bond this floor down without hesitation, as the numerous new builds I have been in that have not done this ( eg floating ) have been quite 'noisy' to walk on, even in socks, in terms of the wood moving and creaking / groaning when walked across. Also, I have noticed where the floating floors meet the stairs, and other fixed junctions, the two can never be married successfully when finishing off completely flush. Instead, most floating floor require a timber or metal threshold to allow a fixed item ( such as the bullnose of the last step up onto the 1st floor landing ) to marry to a floating floor. That would bug the life out of me for the rest of my days. That alone would be enough for me to bond the floor down, point 1, point 2 would fortify that decision, eg the then far better heat transfer from the UFH to the wood. That would also lend itself, point 3, to a slightly lower flow temp for the UFH to run at, as the oak would then be 'thermally coupled' to the heated deck. +1 for bonding down. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olf Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 3 hours ago, Nickfromwales said: +1 for bonding down. Any recommendation for the glue to be used, especially with UFH in mind (thermal properties)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 You may find any warranty is void if not bonded with the correct adhesive on a concrete floor with UFH. Read the manufacturer installation instructions, for whatever make you are choosing, there will be a defined method. Our clearly stated that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 Sikaflex would be my choice. Speak to their tech dept if possible. Used a lot of their commercial marine rated stuff and it’s ridiculously good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 Sealing the concrete with 50/50 SBR*water, by mopping the life out of it over a couple of days, will give you something to stick to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now