Hi All, What would you recommend as the best underlay to balance comfort underfoot and hard-wearing for the high traffic staircase and landing areas? The carpet going on top will be Victoria Ultimate Impressions which is 17mm thick. My underlay choices paired to the carpet are between Cloud 9: -Connoisseur 8mm -Connoisseur 10mm -Caviar & Crystal 9mm (-and maybe Tredaire Chromium 9mm but its very dense at 180kg/m2) Ball & Young's website recommends Conn 8mm and C&C 9mm for this purpose - but not Conn 10mm for some reason! All bedrooms are getting Tredaire Dreamwalk 11mm, so hopefully the height difference and transition between landing and bedrooms won't be an issue as we well as underfoot feel. Would be most grateful for some advice on picking one choice..! Many thanks
Anyone please? Really need to place the order this weekend so any expert advice would be appreciated. Many thanks
Tredaire ambience would be my choice even though you’ve not listed that one but other than that caviar & crystal 9mm will do the job well on stairs (10mm and up is too thick on stairs in my opinion). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks for the reply. Caviar & Crystal is hard to get hold off, unfortunately. Will have look again. Will certainly look at Tredaire Ambience. Would Connoisseur 8mm be suitable? The fitter had specified 11mm Tredaire Dreamwalk for the Stairs & Landing, I had to talk him out of it on two fronts, thickness and density..!
Any good company can order Caviar and Crystal. If the fitter specced that I’d be worried… Connoisseur 8mm would be fine.
Thanks Simon The last option provided was Wilson's Super Velvet 80oz Wool Felt & Rubber Crumb underlay (48db, 3.0 Tog) - are you able to advise how this compares to the Cloud 9 PU? Is it worth opting for? (Price not an issue as I want the best product / balance for underfoot feel and carpet longevity, sound deadening and good thermal insulation). Any heads up would be appreciated
Thanks merit Do you have a view on the last option provided above (Wilson's Super Velvet 80oz Wool Felt & Rubber Crumb underlay (48db, 3.0 Tog))?
Sorry, to clarify, the above option is intended for the Bedrooms (instead of Tredaire Dreamwalk 11mm)
Felt and rubber crumb combo is always very good underlay. Will outlast pu underlays but will feel firmer Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Many thanks merit - are there any particular combofelts you recommend and they suitable for stairs? Can you advise whether this trade-off in underfoot feel by using a much denser, felt/rubber combo provides any additional benefits like Airborne Sound-deadening vs a similarly DB rated PU Foam underlay (which I understand is only for impact)? For example, Tredaire Dreamwalk 11mm is rated 44db for impact vs Wilson's Felt/Rubber combo rated at 48db. Both are quite similar for impact sound deadening, but I assume the combifelt would be much better at reducing Airborne sound transfer also (as well as impact) between rooms and upper floors/lower ceilings vs the Tredaire PU foam? My last concern is the 12mm felt/rubber underlay may require special grippers which my fitter may not be able to supply but I understand from reading the technical specs that this type of underlay should be fitted using the Double Stick method with blind grippers..
Try and keep it to 10mm. Packing up grippers is a pain. I’m not sure you can even hear 4db? The subfloor will have more of a impact than the underlay I would imagine Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
4db is more than double the sound energy but a lower difference in perceived sound over short durations, it all depends on the sound waves you’re trying to dampen and how long they’re going to be 4db higher. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks - in summary, would a denser felt/crumb rubber underlay be vastly superior in dampening Airborne sound (talking, TV, etc.) vs a PU Foam underlay? The db ratings of both products listed above (Tredaire Dreamwalk & Wilsons felt/rubber) have similar Impact db ratings - but my limited understanding is that this metric has virtually no bearing on the Airborne sounds I am trying to dampen between rooms and floors, like TV, loud talking etc.
Thanks - 10mm seems more sensible. You are right that 4db is negligible but that is in terms of impact rating. My query was whether Airborne noise (like TV, talking, etc.) would be much better dampened by a denser felt/rubber crumb underlay versus a PU foam. The Wilsons combifelt underlay is also more expensive per sqm so wanted to check whether sacrificing underfoot feel vs Tredaire PU and paying more for Wilsons would yield some tangible gain - i.e. better Airborne sound dampening?
It’s complicated, it all depends on what frequencies you’re looking to dampen if it’s high and mid frequencies then the denser the underlay (and thicker) will help, bass frequencies are a different story you need mass and lots of it to help with that and a decoupling of the subfloor from the house structure (it’s expensive). Underlay will help with acoustic treatment with reducing the reflection of shorter standing waves (higher frequencies) but not sound proofing they are completely different animals which requires extensive work. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
