The choice of your laminate flooring underlay will depend entirely on the conditions of the floor. The more you are aware of the conditions that the floor will be affected with the better you can prepare for its life. The floors get pressure from both the top and the bottom. Therefore, you need to provide good protection and conditions on both sides.
By following the right maintenance techniques, you can manage the top very easily. However, the bottom is another story. Once the flooring has been installed, you can not really work with the bottom side very easily. For this reason, it is essential to choose the best laminate flooring underlay.
Steps to choose the right laminate flooring underlay
When you decide on laying the floor, check the sub floors. You need to know if the material utilized is timber or concrete slabs. When you know about the material underneath, you will have to study it for damage or effects from moisture. When you're aware of the moisture level underneath and on top of the floor, the right laminate flooring underlay will protect the flooring.
Another important consideration is that the right laminate flooring will work effectively if you have a smooth sub floor. If it's very clean and has a smooth level then the laminate floor underlay will adhere better and not be prone to cracks. Therefore, for a concrete floor you must fill in any gaps and smooth out the surface completely. On a timber sub floor, you will simply have to nail down all the boards very nicely. To create the smoothest surface you might have to top it off with plywood sheets. The trickiest situation comes when you have a high level of moisture in the region and the sub floor is solid. These are made out of stone, concrete or bricks.
In this case, you will have to use the filler compound which is damp proof. Any of the gaps should be filled in and you should let it dry out completely before you start using the laminate floor underlay.
Now you need to work out the budget to choose the laminate floor underlay. You can have a combination or solid form between different materials. These generally include plywood, cork or foam. You can also build in more layers of sound proofing materials. However, these are slowly expensive so you can work out the additional elements based on your budget.