Laminate Flooring & Underlay

alanshave

Looking for some advice from those who have a knowledge of laminate flooring.

Have a new apartment to fit-out in a week or so and have been shopping around to find the best value laminate etc.

Today I was in Direct Flooring. Quite happy with the price of the laminate - roughly £8.99 for an 8mm HDF laminate - but I'm unsure on the underlay and their joiners fitting costs (should I choose to use them).

The underlay they are recommending for a first floor apartment is envoy ultra at £14.99 for a 10m sq pack. Secondly their Joiners look for £7 per sq m fitting cost.

Thoughts on the above? The above underlay I think can be had for maybe £12/£13 from the right place but what about the cost of fitting it - I have no idea.........

underlay_guru

Hi.....envoy ultra is the cheapest of cheap laminate underlays, and is basically a piece of thin concertina sponge. It doesnt really offer much support or sound reduction, but you can get it from www.carpet-underlay-shop.co.uk for £10.25 + vat & del for a 10m2 pack.

For a first floor apartment, I would recommend a slightly heavier underlay, which has sound reducing properties, such as TIMBERMATE XL or SONIC GOLD. These are denser sponges, and will reduce the clip-clop sound you get from laminate floor. It will be better in the long run to spend a little more on the underlay!

For fitting, £7 per m is pretty fair. Bear in mind that the job is pretty time consuming in comparison to a carpet fit.

Regarding your laminate.... £8.99 per m/2 for an 8mm board is pretty fair, although just be aware there are some naffly made laminates products out there.... Basically, you get what you pay for, and if you want a better looking product, I would recommend spending a little bit more.

alanshave

Appreciate that.

I'll look into the other 2 underlays you have suggested, don't mind paying extra if it ends up being worth it.

Will need to check the laminate brand before I buy but see yourself and others have mentioned certain brands such as Quickstep and Balterio previously.

underlay_guru

Some of the cheaper brands have a poorly cut locking system to the boards..in effect, they can be difficult to click into place thus creating damaged boards when your fitter gets more and more vexed with them!

As others have stated, Quickstep, or any board with the 'Uniclic' logo should be foolproof for your wood fitter. the Balterio and Berryloc systems come a close second. the cheap and cheerful 'budget' laminates tend to be inferior to these three.

K300

why is normal good quality carpet underlay not used under laminate floor