It does require floor prep to smooth the floor otherwise the surface of the sub floor will telegraph through within 6 months.
Loud floors in basement.
If you have a noisy floating floor and you have removed all your moldings and baseboards and find there are still proper expansion gaps you may have a floor prep issue.
In most cases you ll have a hollow cavity.
Start by having someone walk across the floor while you listen from below.
The sound happens when a plank becomes loose and the nail rubs against the subfloor.
If the wood floor is above an unfinished basement or crawl space fixing squeaky creaky floors becomes simpler.
When you hear a squeak have the person above rap on the floor so you can pinpoint the exact spot.
Sometimes you might walk across your floors and hear a popping or creaking noise.
This should be included in the directions that came with the product.
Floors that make a popping sound.
Next take a thin wood shim and coat it with carpenter s glue.
If the floor is over a basement or crawl space go below to make the repairs.
Your finished flooring upstairs is usually a hard surface like hardwood floors or ceramic tiles which is supported by your floor joists.
Also usually sheet vinyl comes in 12 foot rolls and if your basement is wider than 12 ft you ll need to have a seam and buy extra vinyl to cover the area and make sure you order enough extra so that the can match the pattern repeat.
Nwfa installation guidelines say most manufacturers recommend a flatness tolerance of 1 8 inch in a 6 foot radius or 3 16 inch in a 10 foot radius.
If your floors are nailed down to the subfloor the popping noise could be coming from the nails.