Q: I will have two questions:
1) I will have Mullican Chalmette Provincial Hickory Engineered wood installed. Have you seen this laid down up close? Does it look real? I have only seen the store sample and it looks very nice, but it’s so hard to tell from such a small sample.
2) It will be installed on a slab foundation. Right now there is very cheap laminate flooring that does not look good and will be pulled up. I have asked several people and get different opinions on whether to float it or not. Some say it will feel and sound more solid if glued. Others say it will not have a clicking sound if floated and this is the better method. I don’t want to float if it will be noisy. What do you think is the best method on a slab? And would it be possible to reuse the pad that is probably under the cheap laminate (whatever it is)?
Thank You,
Chris
A: Mullican’s Chalmette hand-sculpted collection is a great engineered floor. I have not seen this specific floor installed up close, but I have seen several Mullican floors and they look real simply because they are. Unlike a laminate floor the top 1/8″ or so of these floors is the actual wood species and the hand sculpting is real as well. Laminate which is a picture, will repeat here and there, but the Mullican product you have is actual wood, meaning you see real variation in the grain and some slight difference in the shade of each plank, just like you should see in any real hardwood floor.
Now let’s talk about installation options over your concrete slab. The method of installation you choose will depend upon what you expect out of your floor. If you intend to place heavy furniture like an entertainment center or bookcases on the floor you should have this floor glued down. Floating floors are great, but not suited for heavy furniture. Now all hardwood floors will have a bit louder sound to them as you walk over them compared to carpet, but any floor which is solidly anchored like nail down and glue down floors will have a more solid sound. You can also get a better sound from floating floors which have high quality underlayment. If the sound of the floor is very important to you, you can do a process which is done in condos. First get a cork underlayment (only cork should be done this way), glue the cork down then glue your floor over the top of the cork. HOAs have strict requirements for sound when it comes to flooring in a condo and this is usually the only way most Condo owners can get a non-floating hardwood floor installed.
If you do not intend to have heavy furniture in this room, floating can work very well, but to get the best feel out of your floor it is critical that you used a good underlayment. The issue with the Mullican floor is that it is a tongue and groove floor, meaning that you will need to use a tongue and groove glue to properly connect the floor together. Basically put, you will lay a small bead of glue into the groove of each plank then install the next plank ensuring the glue properly spreads around the entire tongue of the plank being installed. When floating any hardwood I highly suggest using a very dense underlayment, 6mm cork being the best bet, as it minimizes the springy feeling of floating floors which gives the feel of a nail down hardwood. 6mm cork also removes a great deal of the clicky or hollow noise in floating floors, making them sound solid, but typically not overly noisy. Keep in mind that if you install you floor using the floating method you MUST use a moisture barrier along with your underlayment – if you do not your warranty will be instantly voided.
If you are having this installed by a professional who is experience with glue down floors, gluing the floor will be your best bet overall as it will be better suited for heavier furniture. If you intend to install this floor yourself I would highly suggest avoiding a glue down floor at all costs as they are the most likely installation type to fail when done by your average DIYer.
