Eco Friendly Flooring Installation
There are a variety of proven methods for installing wood flooring, each of which has advantages and disadvantages.
Nail or Staple Down Method
Nailing or stapling to a plywood sub-floor is relatively fast and inexpensive provided that there is already an acceptable substrate in place. Particleboard is not an acceptable substrate because it will not hold nails or staples adequately. With most flooring, a pneumatic stapler appropriate for the thickness of flooring being installed and 1-1/4” or 1-1/2” staples are recommended. Some staplers or nail guns may need an adaptor plate for use with flooring that is 9/16” or 5/8” thick, as most are made for either 1/2” or 3/4'” thick flooring.
Floating Method
A floating installation
is very fast and inexpensive. Flooring can be floated over all types
of substrates, including wood, gyp-crete, and concrete. With regular
tongue and groove (T&G) flooring, a bead of glue is applied
to the grooves on the sides and ends of each piece of flooring and
it is then fitted to the tongue of the installed course. Some floors,
such as EcoTimber Elements, have “click” T&G systems that allow
a floor to be floated without glue. In both cases, the entire floor
forms a single panel that ‘floats’ over the subfloor without actually
being attached to it.
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There are several advantages to the floating installation method.
It is fast, clean and inexpensive relative to other methods. In
situations where moisture is a concern, floating floors allow the
installer to lay an impermeable moisture barrier (plastic sheeting)
between the subfloor and the flooring. Glue down and nail down installations
cannot be performed over plastic sheeting and may require that moist
concrete be sealed. This process is much more expensive and less
reliable than the layer of plastic that can be used under floating
floors. In a floating installation, when planks expand and contract
in response to humidity changes, they move together as a unit toward
or away from the walls. This means that a properly installed floating
floor will not develop gaps between the planks under dry conditions
and is less likely to cup or buckle under moist conditions.
Solid wood flooring cannot be floated. Solid wood expands and contracts much more than engineered flooring, so if it were floated it could pull out from under the moldings under dry conditions or crush against the walls under wet conditions. In addition, the floating installation method requires a tight tongue-and-groove fit and since solid flooring has to be acclimated at the jobsite, the tongues & grooves may change in size during acclimation and make it impossible to fit the planks together.
Eco Friendly Underlayment
EcoTimber's
proprietary Floating Floor Pad has 92% post-industrial recycled
content (minimum), no formaldehyde emissions, and qualifies for
LEED credits. It is suitable for use over all types of subfloors,
is excellent for floating installations over radiant heat systems,
and contains an EPA-registered anti-microbial agent that inhibits
bacterial, fungal and dust mite growth.. It also reduces ambient
noise and floor-to-ceiling sound transmission, outperforming foam,
cork and rubber products of equivalent thickness in most sound
tests. It insulates cold floors, provides a cushion over concrete
sub-floors and smoothes out subfloor imperfections. Finally, EcoTimber
Floating Floor Pad's pre-attached vapor barrier helps prevent
water damage and can eliminate one step in the installation process
for jobs where a moisture barrier is needed.
If a leak or spill causes moisture to accumulate under the flooring,
EcoTimber Floating Floor Pad's unique wicking action will spread
the moisture out, allowing it to move toward the walls and escape,
thereby reducing the likelihood of damage in the location where
the spill or leak occurred.
Glue Down Method
A glue down installation involves applying wood flooring adhesive to the entire surface of a subfloor and then laying each piece of flooring directly into it. The resulting installation is quiet and feels more solid underfoot than a floating installation. Because glue is spread across the subfloor and establishes a bond with the entire surface area of the back of each plank, glue down installations can help keep the planks flat in situations where they might otherwise cup or buckle, although even the strongest glue will not keep wood flat under severe humidity conditions.
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The main disadvantage of glue down installations is that they are relatively costly, messy, and labor intensive, and require curing time (usually 24 hrs.) before the space can be occupied. Further, many commonly-used adhesives used to glue down flooring contain relatively high levels of hazardous chemicals.
Eco Friendly Adhesives
A truly eco-friendly
glue-down installation must include the use of an eco-friendly
flooring adhesive. Some adhesives that are marketed as "Zero-VOC"
are actually quite harmful, off-gassing toxic chemicals like xylene
and isocynatate that are considered hazardous, but are not classified
as VOCs. Just because something is VOC-free does not mean it's
non-toxic.