Underlay choices

shegirl

I'll be thoroughly redecorating and flooring my new house shortly and can't decide between underlays-both for laminate and carpet.

How much difference is there (aside from price!) between Cloud 9 or Tredaire PU foam and cheaper ones?I've noticed tradepriced do their own 11mm thick one hence asking.I've used cheap PU foam before but only 2 years ago and the carpets will be much pricier this time so I want to be sure of good underlay.

What given difference is there between PU foam and felt or wool underlay?

When it comes to laminate underlay,what are the different benefits with fibreboard and something like Tredaire Boardwalk?

wrightk

i think you get what you pay for in the underlay world to be honest. whatever you do dont get the grey spongey type foam underlay, it will warp and bubble under the carpet regardless of how you lay it and we ended up taking all our carpets up and relaying the recycled stuff this time. its a lot better, noticeably on wood floorboards but not very soft on our ground floor which is concrete base.

If your spending money on quality carpets dont ruin them with cheap underlay. not sure about laminate underlays but would be interested to see what the others suggest as am about to lay laminate in our living room

UncleD

I agree with wrightk, you get what you pay for.

I've looked at underlay specs, and the main difference between the different grades of PU underlay is the density - the more dense the more spongy and durable, which improves comfort, warmth and impact noise reduction. Each grade of PU foam underlay usually comes in a few different thicknesses.

The densities that I've seen are: entry level/own brand = 85kg/m3; value = 105kg/m3; most popular = 115kg/m3; premium = 145kg/m3. I've used Tredaire Dreamwalk (115kg/m3) which is 11mm thick and is absolutely superb. I bought it online so it was only £2.76/m2, about a third of the price of anything similar in the shops. If you want to push the boat out then Tredaire Sensation is 11mm and 145kg/m3.

There are some really good felt/wool underlays out there, but they cost a lot more than PU foam and, unless you've got a specialist requirement, don't provide enough additional benefits to justify the cost.

I've seen three main types of laminate underlay. They're all pretty thin and firm because a thick and spongy underlay would let the laminate flex as you walk across it, and this would damage it. All the laminate underlays help to reduce impact noise, so they keep the sound of footfall down. That, along with helping to provide a good surface, is probably the main benefit of laminate underlay.

Fibreboard is the entry level product, and is pretty good. It's very stiff, though, so the other types tend to be better for noise reduction. The cheapest is PE foam, which looks like the kind of wrapping foam you get in a china shop. It works but it's quite flimsy and performance is average. The most expensive is sponge rubber, such as Tredaire Boardwalk, Duralay Timbermate Excel or Duralay Silentfloor Gold. If you're laying onto concrete it helps to have a vapour barrier included to keep moisture away from the laminate - I've not seen a fibreboard with this, but all the sponge rubber underlays above include a vapour barrier.

Good luck with the decorating.