How to Install a Floating Floor

By: Joseph Truini, This Old House magazine

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

1. ENGINEERED WOOD FLOORING
sold in bundles of 11 to 30 square feet. Calculate the square footage of the room, then add 10 percent to account for off-cuts

2. FOAM UNDERLAYMENT
sold in 3- or 4-foot-wide rolls

3. DUCT TAPE
to seal foam underlayment seams

4. 5/16-INCH SPACERS
to create expansion gaps between flooring and walls

5. GLUE
use only the type recommended by the flooring manufacturer

6. PAINTER'S TAPE

7. TRANSITION MOLDING

8. QUARTER-ROUND SHOE MOLDING

9. 1 1/2-INCH (4D) FINISH NAILS
for attaching shoe molding

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Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Flush-cut dovetail saw,
  to trim door casings
- Miter saw,
  for cutting flooring and molding to length
- Jigsaw or circular saw,
  to rip flooring to width
- Hammer and nail set,
  for tapping planks together and installing molding
- Flat bar,
  to pry last plank into place
- Coping saw,
  for coping molding's inside corners
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Product Gallery
Product selections for this project
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Photo: Kolin Smith

Introduction
Overview
Steps:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9

1. Trim the door casings

Use a flush-cut dovetail saw to trim the bottom of the casing at all doorways so that the flooring will slide underneath.

Gauge the height of the cut by laying down a piece of foam underlayment and a piece of flooring (upside down so the saw won't scratch the finish).

Then hold the saw flat against the plank and carefully make the cut.