Can you float engineered planks on concrete in a basement dim: 3" w, 3/8" thick, 4'long? Don't want to glue.

Answer 1

yes,and only if they are toung and groove,though it isn't an easy process.
There are two ways i know of. One is to do as another had said and glue down 1/2" plywood,but only after you put down a concrete sealer(waterproofing),next a vapor barrier(recommend a 6 mil plastic that can be picked up at any floor or hardware store) and foam underlayment, then lay your engineered flooring (9 out of 10 times t/n/g).The flooring should be kept 1/4" from all walls for expansion purposes.
The other way is to apply a floor lever,then repeat the steps provided above,starting with the app. of the concrete waterproofing.
Generally, the floor will come with instructions, but if not here are some short tips:
1. use vapor barrier and a* foam underlayment
*unless you are nailing down
2. keep all flooring 1/4" from all walls
3. let any flooring **"adapt" to its climate
**72 hours in the room it is laid
If the floor isnt t-n-g,then you can nail it down if you opt for the plywood method, but then i would recommend 3/4" plywood instead.
p.s. you can trim out the edges of the floor with floor edging,by nailing it to the walls,or by glueing it to the walls(only if the walls are concrete). Do this with care,because you have to allow the floor to expand>

Answer 2

They will probably creak as one walks on them.
You can't flush wood tight to one another "and to the walls".
They will be loose.
If tongue and groove, you could glue the joints, but I wouldn't recommend it. If unsatisfactory, be a waste of material.
Wood expands and contracts, even with adhesive. This is why room for expansion is allowed at walls. If not, the floor will buckle.
I even doubt that the floor is perfectly level.
I don't see any way that it would be satisfactory.

Best suggestion would be to glue to plywood and loose lay the sheets.
This method is used for temporary dance floors.
Maybe you could use "joiner nails" on the plywood joints. Not sure about that.
May be some other way to attache the sheets together.

Answer 3

I pulled-up a basketball floor once, during a demolition job, and the flooring was nailed to stringers that were at right-angles to the lay of the planks.
Wasn't glued down, which was to prevent injuries to the players.
Along the walls, the edges were held down with aluminum L-metal.
(It had gotten wet when the fire dept. put out a fire in the building, and the wood swelled-up, making it look like an upside-down boat hull, with a 5 foot bulge out in center court.)
Hope your planks are tongue-and-groove.

Answer 4

if you are going to float a EP flooring, then you might as well buy floating EP flooring and not try to convert EP to floating, it simply will not work. Floating EP flooring has a lock in groove, so the floor will expand but not pull apart, EP is tongue and groove, and unless nailed or glued down will pull apart.

check out lumber liquidators ( on the web ), they carry and ship floating EP floors

Answer 5

I would think so. But you probably need to put rubber underlayment down first.