Friday, May 14, 2010

We are putting hardwood flooring down that is a tongue and groove...no nails or glue. Can we use carpet pad?

we dont want to spend the extra money for rubber underlament if we dont have to and the carpet padding is fairly new and the same thickness as the rubber anyway. Why couldn't we just use the carpet padding?We are putting hardwood flooring down that is a tongue and groove...no nails or glue. Can we use carpet pad?
NO.. You describe a floating floor but you say hard wood.. Two different things. I ll assume your doing a locking system laminate or a engineered wood. In either case you cannot use a padding other than the underlayment ';pad'; made for floating floors.


Carpet pad is to thick ( even a 1/4'; ) and will not support a floating floor. The locking system will break in no time at all . With in days for sure.


As one other poster said when you said hard wood. True hardwood ( 3/4';) thick must be nailed and nailed only.. The only thing under these woods is a rosin paper or felt paper. Some pre finished woods will allow for the rosin paper.


I ve attended several installation classes as well as having installed a few 100,000 s/f.


Any questions you can e mail me through my avatar.. GLWe are putting hardwood flooring down that is a tongue and groove...no nails or glue. Can we use carpet pad?
First - you cannot lay 3/4'; T%26amp;G flooring without nails, it will buckle and move all over the place. Second - You never use a cushion pad under plank flooring. What is commonly used is called ';red paper'; but you can also buy a role of 15 pound roofing felt. I'm not sure where you are getting this wacky advice but I'd suggest you do a bit of research from the manufacturers before you get yourself into a lot of trouble. Floating floors on cushion pads is only true for thin plywood veneer or laminate flooring.
Here's a hardwood flooring installation guide :


http://www.findanyfloor.com/Installation鈥?/a>


cork, foam, plastic sheeting or other underlayment according to the manufacturer's is normally recommended... if you use the carpet padding it may work fine - but in the long run your floors with creak and could potentially crack.... foam is your next best bet.
No, they have some very cheap underlayments and if you use carpet padding with a floating floor you are going to be very sorry.


Carpet padding is meant to be buoyant and bouncy. Do you want bouncy hardwoods that are going to pop out of th tongue and grooves? Better to use nothing than carpet pad. And if you are installing them in a condo or a second floor then you had better spend the money for proflex.
Carpet padding degrades MUCH more quickly than the pad that is made for this type of thing and simply isn't made to do what the rubber stuff does. Your nice, new floors will end up looking awful in no time.





You would not be doing yourself any favors by taking this shortcut.
the rubber underlament is also used as a moisture barrier, I have used 6 mill plastic for the moisture control. If you don't use this your flooring could be damaged.

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