Laying down a brand new floor is an exciting prospect, isn’t it? A new floor does wonders to your room, giving it an instant facelift and that much-needed rejuvenation. But not all flooring projects have happy endings. Often, customers tend to overlook one of the most important aspects of a hardworking, long-lasting floor – the Underlay. The humble and invisible underlay plays a major role in making a floor more resilient, cushiony soft and impact-proof. The right underlay can also even out an irregular subfloor.

But first things first. What exactly is an underlay and why is it so important?

Understanding Underlay

An underlay is a sheet of material that’s laid between your subfloor and the new floor. Before you lay your new floor covering over your existing or subfloor, an underlay made of either fibre, felt, rubber or foam is sandwiched between the two. It strengthens, protects and supports the floor, keeping it level and stable, while covering minor imperfections in the subfloor. But that’s not all. An underlay has more to it than meets the eye.

The Incredible Benefits of Underlay

A good underlay is a life-saver or more aptly, a floor-saver. All-in-All houses various kinds depending on your unique needs, but all of them provide the following basic advantages:

–   Extends the lifespan of your floor: Let’s face it, all floors are subject to a lot of wear and tear. But investing in a good underlay can increase the longevity of your floor by 30-50%. It provides a solid foundation, reducing the impact of everyday stressors to your floor and keeping its good looks for years.

–   Comfort underfoot: Who doesn’t like the feel of a soft, spongy floor? An underlay provides cushion-like comfort underfoot and helps make the floor impact and shock-resistant. Giving you that proverbial spring in your step.

–   Noise reduction: Underlays absorb sounds and keep it from being transferred to another room. Home bedrooms, spas, hotels and multi-level buildings where quiet is needed most benefit greatly from this. Our Gold 26db and Silver 23db Sound Reducing Underlays are perfect for providing extreme sound insulation.

–   Moisture wicking: In unpredictable weather such as ours, a floor that feels comfortably warm and dry is a must. A damp and cold floor is the last thing you need. A good underlay blocks moisture from the subfloor and doesn’t let it surface to your floor. Even a clumsy spillage won’t spell doom for your floors. A quick wipe and your floor is good as new, thanks to the built-in Vapour Barrier in most of our underlays. Our 3mm Green Foam Underlay with Plastic Vapour Barrier provides exceptional moisture-resistant qualities in areas most prone to dampness, like bathrooms, basements and kitchens.

–   Extra heat insulation: The additional layer of insulation that an underlay provides helps to keep in warm air, while acting as a barrier for cold air. Underlays like our 2mm Underfloor Heating Foam Underlay with Plastic Vapour Barrier are also compatible with underfloor heating systems, thus helping the room stay warm. If you have cold or draughty sub-floors, an underlay can make a huge difference to the feeling of warmth. In fact, you might even be able to reduce your heating bills significantly.