Best underlay?

You should talk to the sales staff in the store a little more before you decide , you have to realise that all underlays do the same essential job , they float your floor !

Acoustic - for a standard 8mm laminate then I would always recommend at least a 20db rating , if its upstairs then 23 , if its a commercial unit over apartments , v rare then 28. All underlays are rated ask the sales staff.

Not compressing - I've sold 8mm crap in the past , put laminates on carpet underlay etc , all because the customer thinks its best, for a laminate an underlay needs to be as dense as possible , this is to prevent wear in the joints , bounce and the potential for the floor to creak . Unless your floor is uneven then the best is a dense 3mm underlay .


Moisture barrier - if your floor is damp then no underlay will solve the problem , most underlays have a vapour stop, this is not a damp proof membrane , quickstep and others try to tell you other wise , if you have a new floor or a very old house the there is paint in damp proof membrane solutions , an underlay is not it.


Last but not least , if you have underfloor heating buy the cheapest that the store has . If you have anything more specific to ask, post here or fire me a pm

tenbob1 wrote: »

Last but not least , if you have underfloor heating buy the cheapest that the store has . If you have anything more specific to ask, post here or fire me a pm

I'm looking for underlay for an engineered floor on a new build with UFH.
I've been looking at http://www.irishflooring.ie/product_info.php?products_id=5092 but if I can save money by buying cheaper that'd be great, so I'd like to hear why you say buy the cheapest the store has?

Tenbob1 - i agree with everything you said in your first post, but (with regard to the underfloor heating product) this statement

tenbob1 wrote: »

It does the exactly the same thing as the cheap 2mm "foam" underlay.

is just not true for reasons the OP has asked about - "non compressing", and you yourself have mentioned in your first reply - "for a laminate an underlay needs to be as dense as possible". Density and Compression - two sides of the same coin!!

I am afraid the post will be particularly misleading for UFH users as it categorically states that the cheapest underlay you can get is the best - with absolutely no reason given to substantiate the statement. I take it that you are implying low cost underlays will have a low TOG value, which many of them do, but this is definitely not true for all low cost products.

Getting back to density / compression - here are the two products side by side:
Quicktherm UFH Specialist Underlay - 120kg per metre cubed
http://underlaywarehouse.com/wp-content/uploads/1970/01/Quicktherm.pdf

And a good quality White Foam (NOT "the cheapest you can get") - 20kg per mtr cubed.
http://underlaywarehouse.com/wp-content/uploads/1970/01/Acoustic-white.pdf

Apart from that there are differences in TOG ratings too:
Quicktherm - 0.35 TOG
White Foam - 0.44 TOG
Which translates to a side by side difference of 25%. I am not sure what that difference translates to in heating bills, but i do know the lower the TOG the better for you pocket in the long run.

My advice:
If you have just bought the cheapest laminate you can find, and you dont have UFH - then definitely go with the cheapest underlay you can find too. thats when the purchase makes sense.

If youve just installed UFH (and most likely a half decent floor too) the best method you can use is no underlay at all by gluing your wood directly to the sub-floor. If you are going to use underlay - then leave an appropriate portion of your budget to purchase a product that you envisage will stay intact and performing for a long as you think you will have the floor.