I am planing on using laminate floors for my studio like Pergo. They sell two underlayments for use with the product. One is thicker and meant for quieting a floor (ie in an apartment so you don't hear the foot traffic below. My studio is on the second floor of a barn. Below is storage for cars, Lawn mowers,... so there is no noise below other then the HVAC mechanicals which will be installed there. The joists that support the floor will be filled with insulation and then a layer of 5/8th drywall.
Is there anything better to use for an underlayment or another layer i can put down under the floor. Hight is an issue so I cannot float a floor. Thanks
laminate flooring question
Originally posted at johnlsayers.com, topic 8397.
Depends on the existing floor, if it's flat you can put yer laminate floor directly on top. Might put a anti-moisture screen first, depends on moisture issues. Else you'd better put some foam/underlayment up first.
The term floating floor is something for the additional reference sticky maybe (terms and stuff). A laminated floor with underlayment (stabilizer) is not called a floating floor. Adding extra mass will stabalize your new floor even more and keeps noise from transmissing through the floor a bit better.
..(sorry, pushed "submit" button twice )
The existing floor is 3/4 ply subfloor, new construction 5 years ago , never finished so I am laying the laminate on that. By "I can't float a floor I meant the traditional way (rubber pucks, framing and new sub floor, I don't have the hight. I figured that using laminate on top of an underlayment will maybe give slightly better results, as far as decoupling the control room from the two recording rooms than nailing a hard wood floor to down.
I don't have an answer for you, but I thought I'd toss this in.
Technically, laminate floors do float. What people mean by saying they're not "floating floors" is that they're not floating "decks" and they are not a separate "leaf" because there's no "air" under them.
--Keith :mrgreen:
Thanks I understand the difference. I think the best plan is to go with the thicker underlayment.
I wouldn't think it would hurt. :roll: If you can afford it, that's what I would do. It would probably feel more comfortable to walk on and sound better when walked upon (less "clip-clop") as well. The quality of the underlayment has a big impact (no pun intended ;-)) on that.
--Keith :mrgreen:
Thanks , Good Pun
thick one would be better if its denser
It's just like adding 2 sheets of GB on the wall, it's one leaf although there IS, ofcourse, some air between the sheets (not much eh), just like floors.... So, are we still calling the floor floating, keith? The mass of the floor will "stick" the new floor to the existing. Adding underlayment will raise the floor, but is really just extra thickness, not another leaf. The underlayment helps, indeed, for impact noise. It'll also "demp" your laminate floor a bit (Imagen the rattling/squeeking from laminate on concrete... not pretty)I don't have an answer for you, but I thought I'd toss this in. Technically, laminate floors do float. What people mean by saying they're not "floating floors" is that they're not floating "decks" and they are not a separate "leaf" because there's no "air" under them. --Keith :mrgreen:
Yes, a laminate floor is accurately described as "floating."
From page 2 of the Pergo Installation Essentials Guide for Laminate Flooring:
- FLOATING FLOOR—Pergo flooring is designed to be installed as a floating floor—thus it is not nailed or glued to the subfloor. Instead, planks are fastened together utilizing unique tongues and grooves to create a durable, easy-to-maintain floor surface. Because Pergo flooring expands and contracts with temperature/humidity changes—it is essential that a 1⁄4" expansion space be left around the floor’s perimeter.
Then we first have to identify the word "floating"....
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/floating
I'd say, laminating floor is NO floating. It becomes a whole with the existing floor (which is actually floating...huh?)
with the weight of people/equipment i dont think there will be an air gap to worry about.
Again, we're talking about two different kinds of floating. The "floating" we usually talk about here on the forum is in the context of a decoupled raised deck. The "floating" that describes laminate floors refers to the fact that the planks are attached to each other and not the subfloor --Keith :mrgreen:I'd say, laminating floor is NO floating. It becomes a whole with the existing floor (which is actually floating...huh?)
Says who? you? or are ye just guessing, like I do. (damn, I'm a poet and I know it! haha)
Gravity will have that "glue" function, if you'd ask me. I'm no expert on those matters tho.
Anyway, Keith might be right on what/how to call floating on this forum, or on acoustical matters in general.
whether they float or not, laminate flooring is called(by the manufacturers) a floating floor. this is because no fasteners are required. i think the acoustic floor with neoprene pucks that are so dreaded around here should be given a different name to avoid confusion. millions of people know what a floating floor is. very few of us know about floating concrete decks.
I do agree that this is a source of confusion, and perhaps exacerbated by the prevelence of the common use of "floating" to describe laminate floors by manufacturers and others in the flooring industry.
Gee... It's hard enough to keep things straight when different regions of the world refer to building products by different names... Here we have the opposite: the same name (rightfully or wrongfully) refers to two completely different flooring systems, which are sometimes combined (i.e., a floated floor on my, uh, floated floor?).
It will be difficult to cross-reference and/or change the language on all of the high profile threads on here, let alone lead a change in studio construction jargon throughout the world. (Yeah, leave it up to me to step back and see something bigger than it may actually be! :lol:)
Heck -- it was challenging enough for me to get the description of the construction forum changed so that "how do I float my floors" is no longer in the text! ;-) (But I did finally succeed in that lobbying effort yesterday... Check it out!)
For now, I'd be happy enough just catching people using the term too loosely and serving up some clarification to them, perhaps linking to this thread, which could very well be added to the "Reference Area" announcement someday. :roll:
--Keith :mrgreen:
There is still some little sound even the underlay is used under the laminate flooring. There will be less sound if the underlay has been attached to the flooring during the production for the flooring. Also there will less sound if the laminate flooring is much thicker.