unerlayment with laminate in MH or no???

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clemon

clemon

Well-known member
Joined
May 15, 2012
Posts
279
Location
Kitchener, Ontario Canada
hi folks,

I just finished ripping out the manky old carpet from my '92 Southwind MH in prepaaration for laminate install. I read somehwere that for MH use, there's no need to use the foam underlay stuff under the laminate, that one can lay the new floor directly over the plywood subfloor.

Can anyone out there comment on this? If you laid laminate in your MH, did you use the underlay or go direct to the subfloor? Any pros/cons to one method or the other? I think the original purpose of the underlay is to act as both a moisture barrier and sound insulation. as there's no one living below the MH, I doubt sound insulation is necessary, and I know the old carpet didn't have a moisture barrier under it..... ???

 
The plastic underlayment is a moisture barrier for use on concrete slab houses and/or basements, not needed in a MH. 

I like the DuPont Laminate flooring in that the foam is already attached to the board and provides cushioning, less noise (inside) and less creeping of the floor.
 
As a Flooring Expert, I would recommend the use of cushion underlayment in your motorhome.  As mentioned before, you do not need a plastic underlayment, as this is intended to alleviate moisture permeating from a concrete subfloor - a non-issue in an RV.

A few things to note...

The underlayment, like you said, acts as a sound absorber, but also a cushion. 

Laminate is a free-floating floor.  It should never be installed directly to the subfloor with glue, nails, etc., and as such, with each step, your floor flexes and the cushion absorbs that impact.  It also reduces the "planky" sound caused by small space between the subfloor and the bottom of the laminate.

The cushion also helps to absorb any heat permeating from beneath the coach.  This will reduce the likelihood of warping, beveling, or too much expansion / contraction.

Lastly, laminate floors are made with the cushion in mind.  Compromising on that is simply going to add more problems to its performance down the line.

Bottom line - use the underlayment recommended by the manufacturer of the product.  That floor was made with that underlayment in mind.  Using the recommended product will increase the likelihood of less problems and a better overall performance from your floor.
 
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