I want to put a stud wall right across the middle of a room with a floating floor. The floor has been down for 5 years or so, it's in a house in the mountains where humidity is virtually non existant. I was thinking of fixing the bottom rail by screwing through the floating floor into the boards beneath. I know it's not reccommended. Has anyone tried anything like this? Did it work without buckling the floor?
Cheers.

Well, doesn't seem like a great idea to me.
Ideally, you should cut a channel in the floor to separate the floor into two units and install the wall within this channel, then trim out the wall in normal fashion on either side.
As an alternative, but I am not endorsing this; if you drill large (say 1 1/2 inch) holes in the floor, and use these locations to run the wall plate fasteners into the subfloor, this will give you SOME allowance for movement of the floor if needed. Provided of course, you do not tighten the fasteners down too much.
But why take a chance when it would be so easy to cut out the floor as needed?

Bottom line, cut the floor....no reason to even take the chance.

Thanks for the replies. Cutting the floor is difficult because I have to make a small hall and put 2 doors in. I think the idea of drilling big holes and packing up the bottom rail could be a winner.
Thanks.

You many need to post a sign "Please don"t lean on this floating wall ! ".

It may sound intimidating to cut the floor out, but it's really not difficult. If your capable of the remodel...cutting out the floor is the correct way, and no big deal.

I have to go with the FLooroligist.


You can cut the floor using the wall plate as the template. if you know where the walls will be built, you know where to cut the floor.

Much easier and much wiser.
Leave a floating floor a floating floor as anything less will result in problems somewhere along the line.... maybe after it rains and stays overcase for 2 or three days in the spring?