Floating floors are used to mitigate impact and airborne sound transfer and vibrations from impact where a traditional flooring system cannot meet the acoustic requirements of the project.
A floating floor is typically a secondary floor built above the main structure by using a vibration isolator or underlay to create an air gap between the secondary floor and the main structure. The secondary floor is usually either a concrete floor or wood floor.
Floating floors use their mass, thickness of the air gap, and the deflection of the isolators to isolate the structure. Increasing any of these will improve the performance of the floor. Where rubber products are used in the system there will also be a level of damping that can improve the IIC rating for impacts.
Vibra-Sonic carries a full line of isolation products with acoustic testing to meet your project requirements, from high impact sports facilities to yoga studios to theatres and much more.
Jack Up Floors
A jack up floor system consists of a number of spring or LDS rubber mounts that are encased in a housing that is laid out in a grid on the sub floor and cast into the floating slab. The mounts are interlocked with the reinforcing and once the concrete has sufficiently cured the floor is lifted using specialty wrenches to achieve air gaps from 1 to 4 inches.
By casting the mounts in the slab we can have floating floors on springs while keeping the air gap down to as little as 1 inch and it eliminates the possibility of concrete leaking through a form and creating a hard contact back to the structure commonly known as short circuiting.
With jack up floating floor systems it is possible to design the system using mounts with several different capacities or to vary the spacing between mounts to accommodate floors with high load areas. Spring isolated jack up flooring systems are the most effective systems at reducing impact noise on the market.
Formwork Floors Using Isolation Mounts
Of all the floating floor systems using wooden form, our systems using separate isolation mounts offer the most flexibility for projects with more complex loading requirements. With a large array of different mount sizes and capacities this type of floor system is ideal for complicated loads or where pouring a slab with a single thickness is not practical.
Mounts come in thicknesses from 12 mm (1/2 “) to 102 mm (4’) and are designed for loads from 23 kgf (50 lbf) to 13,839 kgf (30510 lbf) per mount, so there really is no floor to big or too small for this versatile system.
Panelized Wood Floor Systems With Built in Mounts And Insulation
Our panelized system offers the high STC ratings associated with concrete floating slabs with a fast to install all-in-one panels. Panels come complete with OSB in 4 ft x 4 ft sections that include the rubber mounts and the insulation that fills the air gap drastically reducing installation time.
The panelized system can be used with a concrete topping, hardwood, tile, vinyl flooring, rubber gym matting and many other assemblies.
Isolation Mount Systems For Wood Floating Floors
When working on retrofits it is often the case that the structure was not designed for the load of a concrete slab. Our budget conscious wooden floating acoustic floor system uses rubber LDS and spring mounts that are installed under 2×4 sleeps on their side and topped with plywood layers and is highly effective at reducing noise from impacts. For increased STC values layers of wallboard or cement board can be layered in the wooden floor. Insulation can also be used to improve performance.
Underlay Systems For Concrete Topping Or Hardwood
Where impacts are a concern a quality underlay under your flooring system is a must. Vibra-Sonic carries a full line of high quality acoustic underlays that can be used under all types of flooring systems that are fully tested for the acoustic properties. Our underlays can also be used with concrete toppings to create a high end acoustic assembly that is low profile and easy to install.
With thicknesses from 6 mm to 25 mm our high performance acoustic underlayment system is a sustainable green product made from post-consumer and post-industrial waste, including recycled tires. It is GreenCircle certified and can potentially qualify for up to 8 LEED points.
Accessories
No matter which type of floating floor you choose for your project, Vibra-Sonic can provide all the accessories you need including the recommended adhesives, perimeter isolation materials to separate the floor from the structure, specialty drains that will not short circuit your floating floor, and seismic restraints.
Looking for more information about Acoustic Floating Floor solutions? Contact us for technical advice, specification details, solution test data or a quote.
Recent Floating Floor Projects in Western Canada:
