Friday, March 20, 2009

When and Why Flooring Underlayment's Required

By Don Craterholz

For any laminate floor, underlayment is necessary. Engineered wood floors are prefinished which means they are sanded and sealed. The advantage of engineered wood flooring versus laminate is that engineered wood can be sanded after scratches and dings develop.

Engineered and laminate flooring is free floated which means it is not attached to the sub-floor. Most people think they are presently attached but that is not the case.

The individual boards are only secured to each other by gluing the mating tongue and groove edges or by simply clicking together the special joints of the "no-glue" type.

Unlike carpet padding, the thickness of floor underlayment is thinner. But like carpet padding it must be placed on the sub-floor first.

Both types of flooring are installed by a "floated," or "free-floating," method, meaning. The underlayment is placed over the sub-floor first then the flooring is assembled on top of the underlayment.

Laminate and engineered floors with underlayment help deaden the sound. It also softens the feel when walking on the floor.

There are three basic types of foam underlayment: standard foam, foam/film combination, a floor muffler modified/upgraded.

A floor muffler modified/upgraded usually cures a how sounding floor problem. It has a standard moisture barrier and can be used below grade.

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