What is the best underlay for laminate flooring?

Laminate flooring looks great in pretty much any room of your house, thanks to its versatile design and neat finish, but a great flooring is only as good as the underlay beneath it. But what underlay is best for laminate flooring? And can you use the same underlay as for carpets? This guide will answer your questions and explain the specific features to look out for in underlay for laminate flooring.

Flooring underlay helps smooth out minor subfloor irregularities, provides comfort and warmth, reduces noise, and generally prolongs the life of your flooring. But not all underlay is the same. Laminate underlay is much thinner than carpet underlay – usually, only about 3mm while carpet underlay can be 11mm thick (if you want to find out more about the best underlay for carpets, take a look at our other guide). Our underlay for laminate flooring is easy to install and comes in a wide range of thicknesses and densities to suit your home and budget. 

• 1. Warmth and insulation
• 2. Sound reduction

Selecting the right laminate underlay can help to achieve that comforting feeling, as well as helping to make your laminate flooring last for years to come. There are a number of factors to consider:

• The room you’re installing the laminate floor

The room where you plan to install the laminate flooring plays a vital role in selecting the right underlay. For instance, in cosier spaces such as living rooms and bedrooms, consider a thicker underlay that can reduce noise.

• The composition of the laminate flooring

The laminate itself can also dictate the best underlay. For typical laminate flooring, choose an all-purpose underlay that offers basic sound reduction and comfort.

• The evenness of the subfloor

If the subfloor you’re working with is uneven, it’s worth considering a good quality underlay that is able to help smooth out minor irregularities to provide a sturdy base for the laminate. 

Your first consideration needs to be what subfloor type you’re working with. Three types of subfloors are most common in the UK: concrete, plyboard and wooden planks. Each of these subfloor types has different properties that will dictate the type of underlay that is best to lay on top of it. 

What is the best underlay for laminate flooring on concrete?

Concrete subfloors always require an underlay with a built-in moisture barrier. Concrete is a porous material, meaning it may contain residual moisture and ultimately transfer it to your laminate flooring, which will begin to swell and bubble if moisture gets into the wooden core of the boards. To avoid this, the best laminate underlay for concrete subfloors needs to include a damp-proof membrane (DPM) or vapour barrier.

Which is the best underlay for laminate flooring on wooden floorboards?

In contrast to concrete, wooden subfloors need to be able to breathe, therefore using a damp-proof membrane will only trap moisture in the wooden floorboards and could cause damage to your subfloor. Wooden floorboards can often be the least smooth subfloor type and can sometimes shift as they age or as the temperature shifts, so it’s important to note that underlay should not be used to smooth out an uneven subfloor. Floorboards are often very irregular and so might require more than underlay, such as plyboarding. You can find out more in our guide to the signs of a good subfloor.  

When you’re doing some digging into the best underlay for laminate flooring, you might come across some products or information that can be a little confusing. Our FAQs below answer some of the questions that our flooring experts hear most often in our Tapi stores! 

Can you use carpet underlay for laminate?

Avoid using carpet underlay for your laminate flooring at all costs! Even if you want to save money by keeping your old underlay, it won’t benefit your laminate flooring, and it definitely won’t benefit your pocket when you have to pay for new flooring! You can use our amazing fitting and removal services to ensure that your underlay is correctly fitted for your peace of mind.

Carpet underlay is too thick for use underneath laminate flooring – most laminate underlayment is 1mm to 3mm thick, compared to the much thicker average of 8mm to 10mm thick for carpet underlay. When you try to place laminate flooring on top of carpet underlay, you’ll find that the flooring may not even interlock properly, and you’ll see the boards separating. Even if you do get the flooring in place on top of the underlay, the same thickness and softness that helps the carpet lie smoothly will cause the floor will feel uncomfortably bouncy, and it may damage your boards in the long run. A thin underlay will not adequately support the locking mechanism of the laminate flooring.

Stick with an underlay that’s specifically designed for laminate flooring, as this will be the right thickness to lie between your subfloor and the laminate floating floor.

Can I buy soundproof underlay?

As we explain in our soundproof carpet guide, there’s no flooring out there that can soundproof your home. However, a lot of underlays and carpets can help to absorb some of the noise that you make – such as the sound of footsteps and movement, water pipes and electrical equipment.

Even though it’s not as thick as carpet underlay, laminate underlay is often designed with sound absorption in mind. Our Excel Laminate Underlay is 3mm thick and can absorb up to 20dB of noise, so it can keep up with all the pandemonium of everyday life. So, even though it’s not possible to buy a completely soundproofing underlay for your laminate flooring, you can get an underlay that will help a lot with sound absorption – but don’t be tempted to get a thicker underlay than you need to absorb more sound!

Does thermal underlay work?

Cold concrete subfloors or draughty floorboards can be greatly improved with an underlay with a high tog rating. In addition to preventing warm air from escaping, they’ll also prevent cold air from getting in – helpful for keeping your heating bills down.

Thermal underlay is also incredibly helpful when you have underfloor heating, as it lets all of the hot air through from the heating elements and you never need to worry about the heat escaping under the subfloor. Plenty of laminate flooring underlay already comes with high tog ratings, but you can find specialised thermal underlays that work exceptionally well, even as well as carpet!

Make the trip down to your local Tapi store to find our amazing array of laminate options to find the perfect flooring to match up with the best underlay for laminate in your home. You can also speak to our Tapi floorologists about any flooring questions you may have, like how to lay laminate underlay yourself. You can also find other guides on different issues around laminate, vinyl, and carpet in our Ideas Hub.