Solid wood parquet on underfloor heating

The question of the possibility of multiple sanding is repeatedly asked when it comes to parquet. Somehow, it seems to convey a kind of security or superiority the higher the mentioned number is. A wooden floor also has knots, discolorations, etc., precisely the reason why the floor wants to be a WOOD floor. Except for a few exceptions, I can hardly imagine a reason why I should sand a wooden floor, and I have always had a wooden floor in my various living spaces. In the last house, the floorboards were there for 30 years, and I never thought about sanding them; of course, they were covered with dents from fancy thin-legged chairs or evidence of our dog's joyful frenzy. Once you let go a little of this aspired perfection of the wooden floor, it becomes easier without really looking worse, and the floor can finally be a wooden floor, the poor guy. A smoothly lacquered surface or a mirror with scratches would bother me a lot, dents in the wooden floor not really, unless someone makes them intentionally or out of thoughtlessness. Then, of course, I stand by my floor.

Good morning everyone, dear forum community!

We are currently at the topic of floor coverings. In most parts of the house, it will be a Meister parquet (LONGLIFE PD 200 rustic caramel oak 8457).

One specialty store advised us to install it floating with a special impact sound insulation that is particularly heat-permeable. Another specialty store said we should definitely glue the parquet down.

It should also be said that we want to lay the floor ourselves and the floating installation technique is certainly easier than gluing the floor. Besides, we really like that the parquet in the floating installation technique has a little give when walking over it and therefore feels softer.

On the websites of the parquet manufacturers, you can read that floating installation of parquet with special impact sound insulation has no disadvantage compared to the gluing option.

Sanding the floor – whether this will ever really be done is another question – is only limitedly possible with floating installation. This is what we were told in the specialty store and it is also stated on the internet. But there is surely the possibility to fix the parquet with weights or similar so that it can be sanded evenly, isn’t there?

However, we have concerns regarding the functionality of the underfloor heating. Can someone say how disadvantageous the floating installation of the parquet is compared to gluing in terms of the efficiency of the underfloor heating and heating costs?[/B]

Perhaps someone here even laid parquet floating over underfloor heating and can briefly report from personal experience?

We are currently a bit puzzled, as you probably get 10 different opinions when asking 10 experts...

I don't have floating installed parquet but can tell you that the additional air layer does not permanently exclude the heat. It simply takes longer for the corresponding heat energy to reach the surface. This would be disadvantageous with a high-temperature heating system because each heating boost would effectively take longer to bring the room temperature to the desired setpoint - more energy would be consumed. With modern low-temperature systems, however, you keep the whole system at a low but somewhat warmer temperature. That means whether the underfloor heating takes two days or 28 hours to reach the setpoint is basically irrelevant, because once it is at temperature, the heat doesn't dissipate any faster or anything. You are not creating a thermal bridge but simply adding a bit more resistance, which on average doesn't matter.

I don't have floating parquet flooring but can tell you that the additional air layer does not permanently exclude the heat. It simply takes longer for the corresponding heat energy to reach the surface. This would be disadvantageous with a high-temperature heating system because each heating boost would basically take longer to bring the room temperature to the desired setpoint – more energy would be consumed. With modern low-temperature systems, however, you keep the whole system at a low but slightly warmer temperature. That means whether the underfloor heating takes two days or 28 hours to go from 0 to the setpoint is actually irrelevant, because once it is up to temperature, it’s not as if the heat escapes faster or anything. You are not creating a thermal bridge but simply adding a bit more resistance, which on average doesn’t matter.

Thank you, Tolentino. This is roughly how the specialist dealer also explained it to us for floating installation. He was also of the opinion that it doesn’t make much difference whether you turn the heating on two days earlier in autumn or not – especially since the wood stores the heat and you can also turn the heating down two days earlier in winter.

Besides, with a modern underfloor heating system with low temperature, you heat anyway with a continuous flow temperature.

A specialty store advised us to install it as a floating floor with a special impact sound insulation that is particularly permeable to heat. Another specialty store said we should definitely glue down the parquet.

Both work. But gluing works better – for the underfloor heating and especially for the feel. Floating feels and sounds completely different.

The heat storage capacity of the parquet is certainly negligible.