Solid Wood Flooring What Goes Under

Find an underlayment material that offers the protective properties you need at a price you can afford.

Solid wood flooring what goes under. Builders dealers framers when it comes to hardwood flooring the quality of the installation will be determined by the quality of many things including the choice of subflooring and the condition its in. For our discussion of underlayment a wide range of flooring comes under the heading of hardwood. The key to a beautiful long lasting hardwood or laminate floor is a well prepared subfloor. Fortunately most of the problems are easily preventable with a little diligence on the part of the installer.

Subfloors such as vinyl carpet concrete or ceramics cannot support a solid hardwood installation and should be removed before you install. Proper underlayment for solid hardwood flooring q. Regardless of whether you plan to install solid hardwood or engineered hardwood prepping the subfloor and underlayment often takes more time than laying down the actual wood. Its advantage over solid hardwood is that the construction allows for installation in most grade levels of the home including below ground with a protective moisture barrier installed.

I have been researching the web and have found numerous opinions pros and cons on the use of a proper underlayment. The warranty may require it. Stapling or nailing your flooring to the subfloor is the most common way to install solid hardwood. The underlayment provides many benefits including moisture protection sound and thermal insulation and a cushion to make the floor more comfortable to walk on.

Because laminate flooring can be difficult to install on surfaces that are even the least bit imperfect underlayment is a recommended supplement. It includes domestic solid hardwood flooring such as oak maple hickory and ash and exotic varieties like brazilian cherrywood koa teak or sakura. Types of subfloors you can use under hardwood flooring june 11 2016 posted in. The good news is that laying wood floors isn t rocket science.

However for best results don t cut corners at this stage. A hardwood veneer gives the natural beauty and look to the engineered floor just as a solid hardwood floor does. Do this by multiplying the room s length by its width. The bad news is that when you take shortcuts there s plenty that can go wrong.

With engineered floors you can also opt for glue down or floating installations. Before you install your plywood subfloor first calculate the room s square footage to find out how much flooring you ll need to buy. Laminate flooring is thin and is constructed of a type of fiberboard rather than solid hardwood or even plywood as with engineered wood flooring.