Glueless Click Together Engineered Wood Flooring

17 years ago

I am thinking of installing some of the new glueless floating engineered wood flooring in my livingroom. I am looking at the Armstrong Locking Hardwood. Does anyone have any experience with this? Years ago I installed laminate in a small hallway so do have experience with click together flooring. I would rather have real hardwood in the livingroom so thought this stuff would be easier to install then staple or glue-down wood flooring. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks, Bob

Here is a link that might be useful: Armstrong Locking Hardwood

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

bobss7
Original Author
17 years ago
This forum is a waste of time.
floorguy
17 years ago
The Armstrong is a new product. Stand alone from Bruce, Robbins, and Hartco, which were the Armstrong brands on the market, till recently.
Related Discussions
Click sound - Floating wood floor vs. Laminate
Q
Comments (2)
It depends, many floating engineered wood floors are not much different in construction than laminate, just uses a real wood layer on top instead of the melamine and image layer in laminate. A thicker engineered wood floor is generally better for noise, but the same could be said for laminate. Underlayment can make a huge difference in either type. Laminate "clicking" noise can mean a lot of different things to different people. A lot of the creaks people hear are a result of the subfloor not being completely flat or from warping occuring due to improper acclimation or installatiom. As a result the planks flex when walked upon leading to creaks being heard. A floating engineered wood can experience the same thing.
...See More
Question re: Click wood floors
Q
Comments (4)
Thanks NC, I am glad to hear your result. I am starting to think that four things affect the outcome: 1. Does the flooring lay flat on it's own. Conforms to the ups and down of the concrete. I saw one that did. 2. How well in the flooring made. There are still major problems in a lot of manufacturing (from sicken smell [one made me sick for two days] to poor clicking joints, to warped planks and bad cutting during manufacturing. The new HD cores seem to solve alot of that. The finish durablity can be great , so-so or poor; seems like that should be consistantly good by now, but it's not. It's some big names that surprise me. They should have all perfected the finishes. 3. How level a floor is. 4. Underlayment. Thanks again for your response. I guess I will ask this in the flooring forum. Bob
...See More
Engineered hardwood T & G or click & lock
Q
Comments (6)
To get an accurate reading on moisture you'll need to perform a calcium chloride test like this. If you are dry you can go either way on your installation. Gluing it down is more solid / better sounding installation method. You can even go with a moisture block adhesive to give you more peace of mind. To not have the hollow sound for a click lock install, make sure you go with a premium high density underlayment - not the cheap bubble-wrap looking stuff. We only sell high quality Healthier Choice Sound Solution and OmniChoice underlayment. Both have the highest sound ratings in the market. A non-moisture block adhesive and a quality underlayment will cost you roughly about the same money. Alan Ward
...See More
Best DIY wood flooring? - Engineered hardwood click together
Q
Comments (4)
I'm not a fan of click together engineered hardwood. This is not something I would recommend - especially in an uncontrolled environment like a cabin. The click edge is the part that holds everything together. It turns out a plied wood click edge doesn't have a lot of holding power. In fact it down right fails 99% of the time. This is why you are having a hard time finding a plied wood centre. The fibre board is much stronger for a click edge. That's why it has been used for decades with laminate...and some who wish to use hardwood on top. I don't recommend that one...but it's your choice. Hardwood has a very specific way it expands/contracts. It does this across the grain. This is VERY different from the fibre board. Fibre board moves in all 6 directions (yep...6). The more swings you have in humidity and temperature the greater the movement the wood is going to do. And the fibre board will also be moving but in several OTHER directions as well. Oh dear. Now imagine a home that is NOT climate controlled. A cabin for instance. Imagine the wood and fibre board are happy with each other at 20 C and 40% humidity. Now winter comes and we have -10 C and 15% humidity. And then summer comes again and now we are at 35 C and 65% humidity. It is highly possible your wood surface will have peeled off of your fibre board centre. The wood moved in a different way than the fibre board and they tore themselves apart. With your price point, you are better off getting a very narrow plank hardwood (2" or so) and have it laid and then site finished. You will still pay around $4/sf for the wood and $3.50/sf for the sanding/refinish but it will be a floor that lasts. It will still move and twist and shrink and expand. But it will do it in such a way that keeps the floor functional. Or go with an SPC/WPC vinyl core and enjoy your cabin.
...See More
jrdwyer
17 years ago
Looking at the pictures, it appears that some or all of the lines use several narrow strips to get a 5" wide plank. Also, the lengths are either fixed or only up to 5 feet long. Make sure you see the samples and like the look before you buy.
bobss7
Original Author
17 years ago
Does anyone have any recommmendations for a glueless click together floating engineered hardwood floor?

My local flooring store is in the process of moving and they do not have their displays ready yet. I would like some recommendations before I go back there to view what they have.

I would prefer to spend less then $7.00/sqft.
floorguy
17 years ago
Kahrs, hands down.
clg7067
17 years ago
Did you check out the tread on TrafficMaster engineered floor?
wascolette
17 years ago
We are doing floating over radiant. My husband is going to lay the floor. He's actually built the whole 2nd floor addition. Anyway, he really wanted the gluelss click. We looked at a few different samples, and the Kahrs is really the best product we looked at. Unfortunately for us, they didn't have the Woodloc (their click system) in a deep stain color. So we've just ordered the Kahrs Castle & Cottage in Cassis. It isn't cheap, but it is a beautiful floor. A local floor/carpet store had a huge display area of this flooring and it was beautiful. It's still going to be floating but it will have to be glued.

Good luck. Definitely get samples of whatever you are thinking of. And if you can find a local store with larger samples, that's even better.
pearlchow
17 years ago
Just yesterday, I was at a local flooring dealer looking at Kahrs. I had the same problem as Wascolette, couldn't find any of the darker colors with the Woodloc feature.
The salesman did carry another Scandinavian line, UPO, which had some nice finishes and were click together.
I do wonder though, how much more work is involved in installing glue together boards vs. click (both still floating). It sure does open up your options in terms of colors, finishes. Like Wascolette, I really liked the Castle & Cottage line, but unfortunately, none of it is click :-(

Glueless Click Together Engineered Wood Flooring

Comments (8)

bobss7
Original Author

floorguy

Related Discussions

jrdwyer

bobss7
Original Author

floorguy

clg7067

wascolette

pearlchow

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Glueless Click Together Engineered Wood Flooring

Comments (8)

bobss7Original Author

floorguy

Related Discussions

jrdwyer

bobss7Original Author

floorguy

clg7067

wascolette

pearlchow

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

bobss7
Original Author

bobss7
Original Author