How To Fasten Underlayment To Subfloor

We wanted to go over how to fasten underlayment to your subfloor in this article. Before starting, we recommend you to read your flooring underlayment installation instructions.

Two Different Ways to Fasten Underlayment to Subfloor

Floating Underlayment

Most flooring underlayment is installed floating on top of your subfloor. Installers usually lay the underlayment on the floor and start installing the laminate or floating vinyl plank flooring on top. There is no fastening the underlayment to the subfloor.  A quality underlayment like QuietWalk family of underlayments are made from a dense recycled fibers and will not recoil or roll back after installed.

However, during installation some installers like to fasten underlayment to the subfloor to prevent the underlayment from moving or rolling back, which is a nuisance. If your choose this route, staples are a good choice to fasten the underlayment. Staples usually have a coating which help increase the holding power.

Using a crown compression stapler, staple 2 inches on the seams and edges with 4-6 inches apart in the middle.

Glue-Down Underlayment

If your flooring is a glue-down flooring installation type, please refer back to your flooring manufacturers installation instructions on what they recommend for glue.

Some examples of glue in the flooring industry is Bostik’s BEST Urethane Adhesive or DriTac 5900 MegaBond.