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 selections for this project
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Photo: Kolin Smith

Introduction
Overview
Steps:
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8. Install the finish trim

Trim the doorstops on either side of the doorway to the height of the transition molding. Then cut a piece of transition to fit between the doorjambs.

Set the transition on the subfloor. Overlap the flooring on either side, but leave a 5/16-inch gap against the floating floor. Drill three pilot holes along its center to keep the transition molding from splitting, then fasten it to the subfloor — not the flooring — with 4d finish nails.

Now measure the walls for shoe molding. Try to complete each wall with one piece. If necessary, join pieces with a scarf joint.

For inside corners, use a coped joint or simply miter the two pieces. Cut miters for outside corners, too.
Set the molding in place tightly against the floor. Fasten it to the baseboard — not the flooring — with 4d finish nails.