Underlayment creates a cushion for hard-surface floors such as engineered hardwood, laminate and luxury vinyl plank.  It also offers sound-reduction properties.  It is usually required for any floating floor installation (such as with most laminate floors), but we recommend consulting your flooring manufacturers’ installation instructions for best results.  Some homeowners may wish to enhance a base-level floor underlay for personal preferences.

Foam floor underlayment is required for all floating floor applications, such as laminate and some engineered hardwood that uses a floating floor configuration.

Consult the flooring manufacturers installation instructions for the minimum required, and if you want you can can go above that base level depending on your application.