Underlayments
are used under wood floors for two reasons.
One is to make the floor sound better inside the room by reducing the
clicking sounds. The Second and often
the most important function is to reduce the Impact Sound of ‘Footfall Noises’
to the living space below. There is a
big problem however in that decisions about flooring materials are often made
based on price – especially when large amounts are being purchased by builders
and developers. Even for home owners,
price is understandably an important consideration. But like nearly everything in life, you get
what you pay for! Sound Control
Underlayments are no exception.
The first issue
is that the underlayment is not seen so it’s deemed less important than the
finished floor you see and walk on. Fair
enough, but the functionality and longevity of an underlayment is so important
that if not considered carefully it can compromise the entire installation. This can cause early floor failure and
possible legal problems in the case of underlayments used in condominiums.
The underlayments that
are being offered today consist of: cork, felt, foam and rubber.
Cork – is an old
school underlay. It has been used for so
long it’s been ‘grandfathered’ into many specifications. The issue with cork is that it is the bark of
a tree and it dries out, crumbles and cracks over a short period of time.
Felt – does a
reasonable job, but if there happens to be a spill of any kind, it will seep
through the joints where the felt will wick it under greater areas the floor
with disastrous results.
Foams– These are the
real problem in the flooring choices today.
As this market is so ‘price driven’,the sellers of foams are happily
offering up re-purposed packaging foam to be used as floor underlayment because
they are so cheap. Back to the ‘you get
what you pay for’ – foam underlayments often crush out in a very short period
of time compromising floor joints and the whole installation. Along with the diminishing thickness, so goes
any acoustic performance claim. Foam
underlayments are generally considered ‘temporary’.
Rubber– This class of
underlayment is currently the King-of-the-Hill as they offer the highest
acoustic performance and unsurpassed life span.
These underlayments are manufactured from reclaimed tires and will never
crush out under residential loads. The
ones manufactured with polyurethane and acrylic binders offer zero smell and
zero off gassing.
Iso-Sep PM Sound Control Underlay is made right
here in North America. It is one of the
highest performing and lowest cost underlayments made today.
Wilrep Ltd. www.acoustiguard.com has been supporting its clients with Sound
and Vibration Control Solutions for over 39 years.
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