The perception that the installation of an underlay equates to soundproofing is flawed - particularly with legacy flooring that has been in place for several years.
DEFRA suggest that manufacturers of laminate flooring and underlays be investigated for their claims regarding noise reduction - “It should be clear to anyone with a basic understanding of building acoustics that these claims are, at best, misleading, but in most cases quite meaningless.”
Whilst the underlay may show in tests that it reduces noise transmission, this is often only regarding the underlay product by itself and does not illustrate the effects of placing a laminate or other hardwood surface on top.
"Many of the underlays when tested in isolation provide very good levels of impact sound insulation, in some cases twice as much a carpet on its own. However, the addition of the hard floor finish drastically reduces the impact performance."
Given the misleading claims of the underlay manufacturers themselves, it is not surprising that owners of the flooring believe that they are not creating noise because they have used an underlay.
Since there is a lack of legislation surrounding the installation of laminate flooring, there is no requirement for persons to use any underlay at all. The author was informed by an Environmental Health Officer that a person could quite legally install laminate on bare floorboards with no underlay.
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