Marco, Eugene V.

15-55220

Floor Underlayment

Uses: Use a quality underlayment to reduce sound transmission of hardwood and

engineered floors.

 Size: 360 sq feet

 Thickness: 4 mm
 STC Rating: 66
 IIC Rating: 67

Floor underlayment is an excellent choice for noise proofing a floor, especially with
laminates, hardwoods, and engineered wood. The felt is made from recycled fibers,
compressed and heat treated to form a rich sound absorbing material.

Where To Use It?

In general, flooring underlayment gets laid down over the subfloor before installing the
floating floor. Standard foam underlayment is suitable for installation over wood,
plywood, OSB subfloor, and other places where there is no possibility of moisture
coming up from the subfloor.
Note: if you need protection against the moisture from your subfloor, Standard Foam
Underlayment cannot be used, or can be used in combination with thicker plastic
moisture barrier film. This is important because installation of a wrong type of
underlayment may void your flooring warranty, and lead to problems with the flooring.
Why Do I Need Underlayments?

Underlayment is an amazing invention created by the flooring gods out of necessity.

Underlay has an impressive list of benefits, including: adding warmth to your floors so
your feet aren’t so cold on new tile flooring, adding comfort and a slight ‘give’
underneath wood or vinyl floors, reduced sound transmission (great for houses with
noisy teenagers!), as well as reducing in room step noise. This image is a very
simplified example of using underlayment versus not using it, but as you can see the
benefits greatly outweigh any reason not to.

How to install standard foam underlayment

Step 1: Remove
Your very first step should be to remove your existing floor that is currently
covering your room; this will include removal of the carpet as well as carpet
padding. Carpet padding is too thick and cannot be used as an underlayment for
floating types of flooring. We are getting a lot of questions about removal of the
linoleum or commercial carpets. You can keep them as long as the manufacturer
of your floor allows it, and they are even and flat.
You will also need to remove any existing quarter round molding as well as wall
base prior to the installation
Step 2: Clean Your Subfloor
The surface of the subfloor must be clean. Using your broom or vacuum cleaner,
clean your subfloor from all loose debris and dirt before moving forward with the
foam underlayment installation.
Step 3: Inspect Your Sub-Floor
After your subfloor is nice and clean it is time for an inspection. It is a very
important task that’s very often neglected. Make sure to carefully inspect your
subfloor and make sure it’s flat, in good repair, and dry.
Step 4: Fix Your Subfloor
If you noticed any issues with your subfloor, take time to address it before
moving forward. Your subfloor MUST be FLAT. Period! To fix uneven subfloors,
nail down all sticking out nails, repair or replace damaged wood subfloor and fill
excessive gaps in the subfloor. Your subfloor plays a very important role in
supporting your floor, so make sure to address all the issues now.
Keep few tips in mind before moving forward with the installation:
Your subfloor must be flat
Your subfloor must be dry – maximum acceptable moisture reading for wood
subfloors is 14%
Creaking areas must be repaired before installation
If your subfloor sags, inspect the joints below for twists or weaknesses
Capped or uneven areas on joints may be related to moisture damage
Low areas must be replaced or filled with leveling formula
Picked joints must be sanded
Any sticking nails or screws must be removed or fixed
Step 5: Let’s Get Rolling
Standard Foam Underlayment comes in rolls that range from 100 to 1,500
square feet. Don’t lay out all of the underlayment at once. All you need to do is
just unroll one row of the standard flooring underlayment at the moment to keep
your work area nice and clean.
Step 6: Work Left to Right
Work from left to right. Butt it against your wall. Lay your floor padding in the
direction you will be installing flooring planks.

Step 7: Tape Rows

Secure rows by taping them together, this will keep your underlayment in place.

Step 8: Don’t Overlap

Be sure not to overlap the pieces of the underlayment when you add consecutive
rows. All you have to do is butt rows together and secure them with a sticky tape.
Step 9: Work by Sections
Do not roll an entire roll of underlayment out at once. Work section by section,
installing your underlayment and flooring together as you move forward. Don’t
rush- enjoy the moment and steadily move forward.

Step 10: Add Flooring

To begin laying flooring start at the corner of the room and lay plank-by-plank on
top of underlayment until you reach the opposite wall. Each row should have no
gaps in joints. Once your first row is complete start on the next row. Please note
the joints in the flooring should not line up from one row to the next. This will
help prevent the flooring from separating over time. Continue to lay rows of
flooring until you are getting near the edge of underlayment. When this
happeneds lay your next row of underlayment. Be sure to acclimate your flooring
48 hours before the installation.

Step 11: Keep Going

Install your flooring plank by plank on top of the underlayment. Continue until
your project is finished.
Why use underlayment?
Underlayment is a great product solution that will work to help reduce impact noise like
footsteps between floors of a building, as well as adding thermal properties and a little
bit of cushion so that your tootsies stay comfortable on your new flooring.

Is noise really an issue?

There are two types of potential acoustical issues that you might face in a home or
business: sound transmission between multiple rooms or floors, and room acoustics
within a single room interior. Noise is a very important factor in a variety of spaces, such
as in hotels, hospitals, multi level apartment complexes, homes with a quietly sleeping
newborn, call centers, you get the point.

I don’t want a loud, echoey house. What is the best floor to reduce noise?
Consider how reflective the flooring surface will be. Harder, more rigid products such as
tile, stone or hardwood will be more reflective than soft/fibrous floors.

What can I do to make it quieter once my flooring is installed?

If you have a hard surface flooring, to increase the effectiveness of impact sound
reduction, you should consider adding an area rug or runners in hallways and spaces
that receive a large amount of foot traffic. It really helps to think of sound reduction as a
whole ‘system’ rather than simply a ‘one piece’ solution.

What are the ratings and what do they mean?

IIC, or Impact Insulation Class, is a rating of how well a floor-ceiling assembly lessens
impact sounds or structure-borne sound transmission (think of noisy footsteps upstairs,
or a dropped remote hitting the floor). This number can be significantly affected by the
choice in a floor covering and/or an underlayment.
Example: carpet (an absorptive floor option) can help to absorb and lessen impact
noises, compared to a tile floor (a reflective floor option) that is very hard and would hit
loud and bounce the noise. More rigid materials will be less effective than soft, fibrous
materials.

STC, or Sound transmission Class, is a rating of how well a wall or floor lessens
airborne sound (think of a cranky teenager blasting their loud, angry music). STC rating
numbers are minimally affected by a floor covering and/or an underlayment. (Time to
think of building a soundproof room for those music sessions!)

NRC, or Noise Reduction Coefficient, is a measure of how absorptive a finish is, or how
much sound is absorbed by a finish when the sound comes in contact with it. Smooth
surfaces typically have a lower NRC rating (more ‘bounce’) and are not as absorptive as
carpet, acoustic wall treatments, or ceiling panels. Think of the last time you were in the
movie theater - it had carpeting and the fancy wall panels to absorb sound. This
prevents the audio from bouncing around and becoming echoey.

REFERENCES:
https://www.soundproofingtips.com/soundproofing-
materials/?fbclid=IwAR1NewbvkkqxWEZSVpQkRhbW7eEmOlU9M2wKkxTA4bg512Un
zdGA1io8rG0

https://www.rubberflooringinc.com/underlayment/index.html

https://www.bestlaminate.com/blog/how-to-install-standard-flooring-underlayment-an-
illustrated-step-by-step-guide/

https://www.thespruce.com/flooring-underlayment-1821628