Glue down the parquet or install it floating?

Hello everyone,

who among you has parquet in a new build? How is it installed in your case?

Did you have it glued down or did you install click parquet floating?
What are your experiences with each? (Impact sound level, heating efficiency, etc.)

We are currently considering what to do. We could install click parquet as a country house plank ourselves, but only floating.
Most parquet installers, however, advise us to glue it down. A consultant from a flooring store said that with the right impact sound insulation, it wouldn't be a problem to install parquet floating on underfloor heating. So what is actually true?

If we were to glue it down, we would only be able/want to use finger-jointed parquet strips, the planks become too expensive. That only works if we install them ourselves.

Click parquet as country-style plank (short planks) as multi-layer parquet we glued. I would do it again anytime. It simply sounds better than installed as a floating floor.

Thank you for your info nordanney! Do you then have both for comparison? So parquet floated in the upstairs? Is there anyone here with real wood parquet?

We installed the parquet as a floating floor. However, they were 2.3 meter long planks in the form of click parquet. The impact sound insulation for it was indeed not ideal, but with [Hornbach Tiefpreisgarantie] quite affordable.

Hello everyone,

who among you has parquet in the new building? How is it installed with you?

Did you have it glued down or did you install click parquet floating?
What are your experiences with each? (impact sound, heating efficiency, etc.)

Here - in the 'retreat area' (upper floor) 2-layer parquet glued down. Impact sound is not an issue for us, we only walk here in soft soles anyway (socks, house slippers, or similar), and there is no rattling.
In our previous rental apartment, click laminate was installed floating; there it rattled in some spots despite soft soles (probably also due to 'poor installation').

Heating efficiency: Theoretically, glued down should be advantageous here, practically I lack the comparison.
However, one should definitely check exactly which adhesive is used by the parquet fitter; my sister had a no-longer approved adhesive used, which also emitted quite a few organic substances. The damage was somewhat larger, the parquet fitter's insurance had expired, and the fitter himself fled into insolvency. My sister was furious.
Here, on the other hand: no problem, the parquet fitter did a good job.

Regards
I.

I think a professional company will mostly recommend gluing, after all, they also earn from laying, and that is certainly not entirely wrong. Allegedly, only in this way can the top layer be sanded easily when it is worn out. That is basically the Mercedes in the parquet sector.
At Hornbach, however, I was told that with good impact sound insulation (e.g., selitflex 1.6mm) with accordingly low thermal resistance, no major disadvantages are to be expected regarding the heat emission of the underfloor heating. As for impact sound, there might be slight compromises. But later on, the finished parquet can be replaced relatively easily and completely without major problems. Maybe that is even cheaper than gluing and later sanding, and you have the option to pick something new again.
I don’t have any experience yet, but I am also looking for advice from people who have already made the decision. There will probably be good arguments for both laying methods that everyone has to weigh for themselves.