Best underlay for laminate flooring on wooden flooring ? (is diall aquastop any good?)

JakubJakub

Hi, 
I'm planning on laying laminate flooring in a living room. It has wooden suspended floor. I wanted to use Diall Aquastop XPS 5mm as it seems to have good thermal resistance - twice as much as fibreboard. I did read some comments on diy.com that it crackles when walked on. I don't want that. Any thoughts on that ? Has anyone used it on wooden floors (old 1930's wooden boards) ?
Thanks
Jakub 

grumbler

IMO, for such small thickness "twice as much" comparison is pretty much meaningless.  It's almost like comparing 5p and 10p when you need to save pounds.

Underlay can prevent air flow through gaps and compensate for small unevenness in the first place. Any decent insulation can be achieved only by thicker insulation between the joists.

Also, IMO, for small thickness a foil layer reducing heat loss via radiation can make much bigger difference than the material or few extra millimetres.

Norman_Castle

JakubJakub said:

 I wanted to use Diall Aquastop XPS 5mm as it seems to have good thermal resistance - twice as much as fibreboard.

The B&Q site states an energy rating of A+++ for their fibreboard and A+ for the Aquastop.

https://www.diy.com/departments/diall-5mm-wood-fibre-laminate-solid-wood-flooring-underlay-panels-pack-of-15/1520621_BQ.prd

https://www.diy.com/departments/diall-aquastop-5mm-extruded-polystyrene-xps-foam-laminate-solid-wood-flooring-underlay-panels/1570774_BQ.prd

JakubJakub

Norman_Castle said:

JakubJakub said:

 I wanted to use Diall Aquastop XPS 5mm as it seems to have good thermal resistance - twice as much as fibreboard.

It does indeed...I am so confused now. I was checking both on screwfix in q&a (answered by screwfix) and fibreboard thermal resistance is supposedly 0.07m2 K/W and aquastop 0.143m²K/W.   

JakubJakub

IMO, for such small thickness "twice as much" comparison is pretty much meaningless.  It's almost like comparing 5p and 10p when you need to save pounds.

Underlay can prevent air flow through gaps and compensate for small unevenness in the first place. Any decent insulation can be achieved only by thicker insulation between the joists.

Also, IMO, for small thickness a foil layer reducing heat loss via radiation can make much bigger difference than the material or few extra millimetres.

I have been thinking of doing insulation between joists , but don't like the idea of ripping up the whole floor up... and the rest of my house is pretty well insulated so I'm fine for heat loss as such (too much work - too little gain in the grand scheme of things) . What I really want from the underlay is just not too have my floor too cold to touch when walked on. The only reason I want to find the warmest underlay.

Norman_Castle

JakubJakub said:

Norman_Castle said:

JakubJakub said:

 I wanted to use Diall Aquastop XPS 5mm as it seems to have good thermal resistance - twice as much as fibreboard.

It does indeed...I am so confused now. I was checking both on screwfix in q&a (answered by screwfix) and fibreboard thermal resistance is supposedly 0.07m2 K/W and aquastop 0.143m²K/W.   

Is the thermal resistance K/W measurement the amount of heat energy which passes through something? If so 0.07 is lower than 0.143 making it a better insulator.

grumbler

Norman_Castle said:

JakubJakub said:

Norman_Castle said:

JakubJakub said:

 I wanted to use Diall Aquastop XPS 5mm as it seems to have good thermal resistance - twice as much as fibreboard.

It does indeed...I am so confused now. I was checking both on screwfix in q&a (answered by screwfix) and fibreboard thermal resistance is supposedly 0.07m2 K/W and aquastop 0.143m²K/W.   

Is the thermal resistance K/W measurement the amount of heat energy which passes through something? If so 0.07 is lower than 0.143 making it a better insulator.

Intuitively, the higher the resistance (and the lower the conductivity), the better the insulation.