When choosing a Karndean Designfloor, among the many things to consider aside from gauge, color, wood species or type of stone and layout, is the format of our luxury vinyl flooring you should use. We specialize solely in luxury vinyl, and put the same thought and care into the development of all our designs, whether it's a gluedown, loose lay or rigid core format. You may be hesitant to work with floating floors if you have ever had a project failure with laminate or engineered wood, but today's vinyl floating floor options have come a long way from what you specified ten years ago.
For projects where a floating floor is the best fit, we offer a selection of loose lay and interlocking rigid core options. Let's explore which floating floor is right for your project.
Why specify a floating floor?
- Acoustic qualities: Our floating floors carry respective impact insulation class (IIC) levels of 56 (Karndean LooseLay and LooseLay Longboard) and 68 (Korlok), dramatically decreasing the amount of noise transfer to lower levels of a building, including hospitals, offices, and multifamily communities. These ratings can be improved by using our new premium acoustic underlayment, QuietChoice.
- Quick turnaround time: Benefit from minimal disruption and a quick installation with both of our floating floor types. Ideal for overnight retrofits and tight timelines.
- You don’t want to incur the cost of tearing up existing hard floors*: This varies by the type of flooring currently in the space, but in many cases, you will not have to tear up the existing hard surface floor before installing our floating floors.
- Thicker profile adds additional comfort underfoot.
Karndean LooseLay and LooseLay Longboard
With Karndean LooseLay and LooseLay Longboard, you can have a floating floor with design flexibility by mixing wood and stone looks, incorporate multiple colors into one design, or by laying these multi-directional planks in a variety of patterns. Additionally, your chosen design can be carried through the space without the need for transitions between our luxury vinyl and carpet tile. *In commercial applications, we recommend applying at least a grid pattern of adhesive.
In-house staff can easily replace a Karndean LooseLay plank or tile
Karndean LooseLay products offer unique functional benefits as well. Its planks and tiles are individually replaceable, enabling in-house maintenance staff to quickly lift, remove and replace any non-adhered planks or tiles. This format is ideal for settings that require underfloor access (just make sure you don’t adhere that plank to the floor). However, if underfloor access is not required and you feel more comfortable securing the planks with full-spread adhesive, you may do so. As our most ergonomic flooring range, Karndean LooseLay is ideal for environments where employees are on their feet for extended periods of time.
What's more, Karndean LooseLay is a compression-fit product, which makes it easy for installers to learn how to properly install.
Korlok Select and Korlok Reserve
If you wish to minimize subfloor preparation prior to installation, or preserve the current subfloor altogether, our Korlok rigid core products are right for you, as they are secured in place with a click-locking mechanism. Our rigid core can be installed over most existing hard surface floors, including ceramic tile, so long as the grout lines are 3/16” wide or less. Unlike other locking floors, neither a hammer nor a mallet is required to put planks into place. Korlok Select products feature the added security of our HoldFast 5G locking mechanism, which allows installers to quickly, easily lock planks in place. Korlok Select also comes with our HoldFast 15-year Commercial Warranty, which guarantees securely-locked planks will not come apart at the end seams.
Korlok's locking mechanisms allow for a quick and easy installation
Korlok can be installed quickly with no adhesive (we advise never gluing this product), allowing it to expand and contract as a unit. Keep in mind that Korlok requires an expansion gap around the perimeter and every 50 linear feet in each direction in spaces up to 1,000 SF.* For areas larger than this, simply increase the expansion gap to 5/16". Please note, we do not recommend using Korlok in areas that will have extremely heavy fixtures or equipment resting on the floor, or in bathrooms with sloped drains.
Now that you have an idea of which floating floor is right for you, view our selection and request some samples!
*Refer to our installation instructions or consult our technical department at 888-266-4343 for more information.