Underlayment over concrete floor - best one?

17 years ago

I will likely float Kahrs engineered wood and wanted to find out which underlayment worked well so I'd have a solid sounding floor. I was going to get basic foam, but then at Home Depot I was told this plastic with foam bubbles on the topside worked very well. It seems like the plastic may crinkle but I was told it's much better than straight foam. Any experience? Or is felt with a plastic layer the best option?

Thanks!!

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Comments (5)

floorman67
17 years ago
Floor Muffler
glennsfc
17 years ago
Kahrs from Home Depot?
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pearlchow
17 years ago
I'm pretty sure they don't sell Kahrs at HD, but perhaps the OP was just shopping for underlayment at HD?
Anyhoo, I'm also interested in hearing from others who have installed Kahrs floating over concrete. I'd like to hear about the differences between the Kahrs Combo 2-in-1 (blue plastice with tiny foam beads sandwiched in between) and the Floor Muffler.
We're installing the 5/8" thick Woodloc. I'm thinking it's thicker so maybe the Combo 2-in-1 would be sufficient. Seems like the Floor Muffler/foam underlayments get recommended most often when installing thinner laminate flooring. But maybe I'm wrong?
I do know that I don't want to hear plastic crinkling everytime I walk on the floor, as another poster mentioned!
jerry_t
17 years ago
I use alot of FloorMuffler myself, but personally I would stick with a Kahrs underlayment under their product. I have never experienced that plastic crinkling anomaly you mentioned, flatness is paramount under any hard surface floor covering.
pearlchow
16 years ago
Follow-up on our experience.....
We've installed several hundered feet of the Kahrs 2-strip Woodloc flooring, floating it over concrete subfloor.
I went back and forth trying to decide between FloorMuffler and Kahrs Combo 2-in-1. Ended up using Kahrs Combo 2-in-1 and am very happy with the product. We don't hear any plastic crinkly sound and it provides plenty of cushion. We have a no shoes in the house policy and I don't notice any of the clicking sounds that some have mentioned.
So overall, we're very happy with the Kahrs underlayment.