Does form underlayment hurt on a hardwood floor installation?

Posted by admin on February 21st, 2010 and filed under hardwood plywood | 4 Comments »

I’m installing a nail down solid hardwood floor over a plywood subfloor. There are some minor imperfections on the subfloor and would like some type of underlayment to help with the imperfections and any potential sqeaking.

Would putting a thin form underlayment (type used with laminent flooring) hurt the solid hardwood?
Sorry – meant FOAM underlayment.

First of all it is correct to make sure your prep work is important….screws work better to stop squeaks ….they don’t loosen up easily…another way to stop squeaks is to go under the floor where the squeak is and us a wood shim with construction adhesive on both sides…slide it in till it is snug and let it dry….as for a moisture barrier….usually a 30 lb felt paper is best…foam is usually used in a floating laminate floor like Pergo….If you choose to use a foam barrier make sure you don’t use anything too thick becasue the hardwood floor needs to be firmly attached to the subfloor…..I hope this helps you….

4 Responses

  1. KWCHAMBER Says:

    I wouldn’t think so. It is so thin that it probably wouldn’t hurt, but I would call the manufacturer of the flooring to check and make sure.
    References :

  2. tybeebahama Says:

    no it wont hurt the wood, however moisture will you need to put some type of moisture barrier between your sub floor and your hard wood
    References :

  3. RON B Says:

    THE QUALITY OF MOST JOBS DEPENDS ON THE PREP WORK. I WOULD CERTAINLY SUGGEST YOU SAND OR NAIL DOWN ANY UNEVEN AREAS BEFORE INSTALLING A PAD AND HARDWOOD FLOORING. A PAD ALONE OVER YEARS WILL NOT INSURE A TROUBLE FREE FLOOR. HOPE THIS HELPS
    References :

  4. wood42ras Says:

    First of all it is correct to make sure your prep work is important….screws work better to stop squeaks ….they don’t loosen up easily…another way to stop squeaks is to go under the floor where the squeak is and us a wood shim with construction adhesive on both sides…slide it in till it is snug and let it dry….as for a moisture barrier….usually a 30 lb felt paper is best…foam is usually used in a floating laminate floor like Pergo….If you choose to use a foam barrier make sure you don’t use anything too thick becasue the hardwood floor needs to be firmly attached to the subfloor…..I hope this helps you….
    References :
    Year of experience in installing hardwood flooring and Being a consturction superintendent

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