Is using an underlay under solid hardwood floors better? What kind?

Question

We are installing a solid hardwood floor (nail down) in our home over a plywood subfloor. The room is over the garage and I would like to put down an underlay to help with sound transmission and insulation. Is this even a good idea? What kind of underlay is best? Cork? Synthetic? Thanks

Answer 1

you should put one down...it will definitely help with the insulation- if you were laying it in a flat I would say absolutely because of the noise factor- but as it's over a garage you don't have to worry about the room below but probably should look for a better one for the heat loss factor. You can get great ones which are like a condensed shredded cardboard, thats what we have and it's very good. whatever you use in the end, I definitely would say you need it. it will save your heating bill in the end! Garages can be pretty cold!

Answer 2

Hardwood Flooring Underlayment

Answer 3

Underlayment For Hardwood Floors

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Is using an underlay under solid hardwood floors better? What kind?
We are installing a solid hardwood floor (nail down) in our home over a plywood subfloor. The room is over the garage and I would like to put down an underlay to help with sound transmission and insulation. Is this even a good idea? What kind of underlay is best? Cork? Synthetic? Thanks

Answer 5

Laura, don't place plastic under the floors, you may create a vapor lock and which side is your guess.
Use rosin or other paper rolled products for your area. the Plywood is sub-floor enough and with the 3/4' hdwd you'll have an inch and a half anyway.
go down into the garage below and place rigid insulation, r-30, 4" thick and keep your vapor barriers in the garage.
being in the closed garage, you won't need much barrier as its a closed garage unless you have dirt floors; which I doubt.
You don't want that hdwd bouncing around on the subflr in a moosh of paper, plastic and tar as it may rip a mortise and you won't like it later.
tar paper is not a preference of mine as it hardens later and can chip, crack and move not to mention stink and squeak from time to time.
Its your choice, but I use thick paper under my $25. dollar a foot hickory from the Amish area. Its just great and the red oak is nice too with the same workmanship.

Answer 6

i actually just talked to a vendor the other day from a company cant remember the name but the product is called Sound Solution. its a flooring underlayment pad which can be used for under laminate and/or solid hardwood flooring in your case. the product is actually made from 100% memory foam which will actually form to the nail after you nail your floor down which then leaves no room for moisture to get in. he was talking about tests his company has run with the other underlayment pads talking about how much they will over time compress into almost or more than half of their original size. since your room is above grade especially over the garage moisture might be a problem, which is what the pad is really meant for, to provide as a vapor barrier from the level below it. since you have real wood i would also recommend laying some plastic sheeting normal 6mil would work under the underlayment pad you choose to help with the moisture as well. protect that wood as best you can the sound solution is sold at menards for $49.99 per 100 square feet. and the plastic sheeting is pretty cheap. go with this stuff its the best for you situation.

Answer 7

First of all the original layer of plywood should be at least 3/4 of an inch thick for structural purposes. If not you will need to build that up with another layer of plywood. Second of all you lay the long direction of the flooring opposite of the floor joists. (Also for structure).

As far as a noise reduction and insulation cork works quite well. A couple precedures need to be followed. You need to first put a layer of tar paper down on the plywood(this prevents any squeeks from forming). After the tar paper is layed you can then lay the cork down. Then roll out your cork. You want to make sure the cork is 1/4' or thinner because i'm assuming you are using a 2' inch nail or cleat to istall the floor and you want to make sure as much of that as possible is going into the plywood. A layer of plastic sheeting would'nt be a bad idea between the tar paper and the cork to keep any unwanted moisture from coming in through the garage. Hope this helps

Answer 8

I'm a guy, and privately, I don't like long nails. I know a lot of like lengthy, painted nails cause they're "so pretty", but I don't like them.

Answer 9

A little bit of toe nail is fine... but I agree with you. Long nails are kinda low.

Answer 10

Ticketoride is correct on this one. Just use rosin paper under your flooring. If you want a vapor barrier install it in the garage. But please make sure your plywood is thick enough before you start: 3/4 inch.