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Understanding Underlayment and Your Flooring Goals

2 min read
Published on March 26, 2013

What is underlayment?

Underlayment is a thin material that rests between your floor and subfloor. Generally speaking, a high-quality underlayment provides sound absorption and protects your floor from harmful moisture.

Do I need underlayment?

Using an underlayment has many valuable benefits. Depending on your flooring goals, flooring product, and the details of your subfloor and property, underlayment may be necessary.

Here are some questions and answers, as well as a few different products to choose from to find the best underlayment for your specific flooring goals.

Is it true that underlayment can give you a more comfortable room, minimize airborne sound transmissions between floors, and even keep the floor warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer? Short answer to quite a lengthy question: Yes.

So when dreaming about how gorgeous our new floor will look, we flooring enthusiasts know also what is beneath it. We see the benefits of a better feel, sound, and energy efficiency. Somehow, that makes it look even better.

LL Flooring has several underlayment products to choose from. So which one is right for your home or investment property? Watch this brief video for even better understanding then see the list of underlayment products below.

 

Dream Home Insulayment

  • Square Feet per Roll: 100
  • Roll Size: 3′ x 33.4′ x 0.11″
  • Flooring Applications: glue-down, nail-down, floating
  • Flooring Type: Solid Hardwood, Engineered Hardwood

Benefits

  • Excellent sound reduction
  • Helps keep flooring warm in the winter and cool in the summer
  • Cushions flooring
  • Has an antimicrobial structure
  • Can be used with radiant heat flooring
  • Made with 100% recycled fiber

Dream Home Quiet Walk Underlayment

  • Square Feet per Roll: 100
  • Roll Size: 3′ x 33.4′ x 0.125″
  • Flooring Applications: floating
  • Flooring Type: Laminate, Hardwood

Benefits

  • Helps smooth out minor subfloor imperfections
  • Excellent sound reduction
  • Adds a thermal value
  • Can be used with radiant heat flooring
  • Has a moisture barrier with increased strength
  • Has an antimicrobial composition and attached vapor barrier
  • Made from recycled materials
  • QuietWalk® filaments are randomly air-laid creating a capillary affect to cushion the floor and absorb sound. When properly installed, QuietWalk can wick sub-floor or incidental perimeter moisture and disperse it through the pad.

Dream Home Cork Underlayment

  • Square Feet per Roll: 150
  • Roll Size: 2′ x 3′
  • Flooring Applications: glue-down, nail-down, floating
  • Flooring Type: Hardwood

Benefits

  • Excellent sound and insulation qualities
  • Cork is naturally hypoallergenic and resistant to mold and mildew
  • Perfect as an isolation barrier to dampen impact noise between floor levels
  • Ideal for condominiums and building associations requiring sound control before allowing the installation of a hard surface floor

Dream Home Foam Underlayment

  • Square Feet per Roll: 100
  • Roll Size: 4′ x 25′ x 1/16″
  • Flooring Applications: Laminate with pre-attached pad, floating Engineered Hardwood

Benefits

  • Helps even imperfections in the sub-floor
  • Helps muffle sound
  • Comes with adhesive tape for seams

Installation Instructions: Use with 6 mil poly moisture barrier when installing over concrete substrates. Heavier floating floors perform best applied over heavier, denser underlayments offering better support to the locking system.

Dream Home 6mil Poly Sheeting

  • Square Feet per Roll: 300
  • Roll Size: 10′ x 30′ x 0.006″
  • Flooring Applications: floating over concrete
  • Flooring Type: Laminate, Engineered Hardwood, Vinyl (installed on a slab)

Benefits

Impermeable moisture barrier guaranteed to prevent moisture from getting to your new floor from the substrate when installed over concrete slabs

Installation Instructions: For best moisture protection, overlap seams 6-8″, tape seams well with duct tape or an aggressive plastic tape. Allow the vapor barrier to run up the walls 3-4″. The excess can be trimmed once the installation is complete. Do not use over wood subfloors!

White Silicone Vapor Paper

  • Square Feet per Roll: 400
  • Roll Size: 34″? x 141′ x 0.006″
  • Flooring Applications: nail-down, staple, floating over wood subfloors
  • Flooring Type: recommended to use over crawl spaces, basements, garages

Benefits

  • Can be used in layers to build up differences in subfloor imperfections
  • Reduces squeaking
  • Slows down natural upward moisture vapor transmission
  • Made from 100% recycled paper
  • Best choice over radiant heat systems
This Dream Home Premium underlayment is a great choice to make flooring its best.
 This Dream Home Premium Underlayment is a great choice to make flooring its best.

 

 

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