Floating Floors

A floating floor is a floor which is supported by a structural slab but is completely isolated from the structural slab by resilient support members, so it is nowhere in rigid contact with the structure slab. The floating floor acts as a protective covering for the structural slab. Impacts, no matter in the forms of vibration or noise, on the floating floor will be absorbed substantially before reaching the structural slab. As a result, the room below the structural slab is much quieter than it will be if the same impacts directly strike the structural slab.

Figure 55 shows two types of floating floors which are supported resiliently on isolation pads and fiberglass insulation board. To prevent potential damage of a floating floor, it must be structurally designed for proper strength and the applied load should be within the design limits and uniformly applied. For any type of floating floor, the construction must be monitored carefully to ensure proper installation as it is usually very difficult to remedy defects after completion of the installation.