Do you need underlayment for laminate flooring?

The simple answer is YES! According to the North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA) the manufacturers require an underlayment for under laminate flooring. Underlayment for laminate flooring provides proper support, stability, noise reduction, and helps the click-lock system create a structurally sound floor. With many underlayment options and flooring types available to consumers, we’ll list the benefits of underlayment and what to look for when choosing one.

Laminate Flooring Underlayment Benefits

Moisture Protection

Why worry about moisture for your flooring? Laminate flooring consists of resin and fiberboard materials with a photographic applique layer under a clear protective layer. If moisture from your subfloor (concrete or wood) reaches the wood based core of laminate, your flooring will absorb it, causing bowing or warping. Underlayment with a built-in vapor barrier provides the moisture protection you need.

Cement Subfloor

Cement is porous and can absorb and emit moisture. Often times, when we speak of moisture in concrete it is in the form of a vapor. These vapors are invisible but when you block them from escaping, they become droplets of water. If you’re installing laminate flooring (aka floating floor) over cement, your floor could absorb moisture from the subfloor. Using an underlayment with a vapor barrier, or adding a 6-mil vapor barrier along with the underlayment, will prevent moisture from reaching your floor.

Wood Subfloor

Moisture isn’t typically a concern unless you’re installing over a crawl space. In such cases, install a vapor retarder in your crawl space to prevent moisture issues. Adding a 6-mil vapor barrier on top of the subfloor in a crawl space can block moisture and potentially cause rot over time. No underlayment can fix moisture problems in a crawl space.

Soundproofing Your Floors

Noise can come from many sources—pets, kids, loud music, and more. Underlayment helps absorb vibrations from everyday noise and blocks sound from other rooms. Our recycled felt underlayment absorbs sound, preventing it from traveling between rooms. Customers who install QuietWalk often comment that their laminate flooring sounds more like real hardwood, thanks to the underlayment.

Compression Resistance

Compression-resistant underlayment provides a solid foundation for your floors, allowing them to naturally flex under normal to high weight stress. It also helps hide minor subfloor imperfections and protects the click-lock mechanism, ensuring a stable floor.

Insulating Value

Insulation isn’t just for walls, roofs, windows, and doors—your flooring also affects heat gain or loss. Flooring underlayment with an R-value helps improve comfort underfoot. Choosing an underlayment with a higher R-value (around 0.5-0.6) keeps you comfortable, lowers energy bills, and enhances your overall space.

Clean Indoor Air Quality

Clean indoor air quality is often an overlooked benefit of underlayment. Some DIY homeowners may notice a harsh odor during installation, which could come from their underlayment. This odor might fade over time but could continue to emit harmful chemicals. We recommend choosing an underlayment certified for low VOC emissions. QuietWalk is Green Guard Gold certified, meaning it’s safe enough for installation in hospitals and government buildings.

Underlayment for Laminate Flooring Pre-Attached Underlayment

We recommend to always look for some valid certification of no VOC off-gassing of your underlayment you choose. QuietWalk currently has Green Guard Gold certification allowing our underlayment to be installed in hospital or government buildings.

View QuietWalk – Underlayment for Laminate Flooring

Some homeowners are concerned that adding underlayment under pre-attached underlayment could create too much cushion, compromising the locking system and making the floor unstable. QuietWalk’s felt/fiber underlayment is designed to be dense and to support the locking system of any laminate flooring.

QuietWalk’s compression resistance exceeds the requirement for pre-attached flooring, rated at greater than 29 psi @50% per ASTM D1667. This high compression resistance ensures that the underlayment won’t contribute to floor decoupling.

Disclaimer: Always follow your flooring manufacturer’s installation instructions. Most manufacturers don’t recommend additional underlayment under pre-attached underlayment, as it may increase the risk of claims.