Hardwood Floor Underlayment? Yes or No

NOTE: this is Not a discussion of underlay required for "floating floors" but rather only in reference to installing nail down solid hardwood flooring!
Do I need to put tar paper or wax paper over my subfloor before traditional installation of hardwood flooring? The answer is NO! At least not under normal conditions.
This is probably a question I get asked every week by various home owners that are interesting in installing their own hardwood flooring. Let me suggest first and foremost that felt paper does NOT stop squeaks! It seems to me that this is the most common consumer understanding on why paper is used when installing hardwood flooring, but I'll discuss that a little more, further down the article.
So then the obvious question, considering that we KNOW installers have been using felt paper under hardwood flooring for many years, is why did they do it? Well, I have asked every installer I have come in contact with for the last 20 years and here's their most logical answers...

1. the tar paper prevents moisture migrating from a damp basement up into the underside of hardwood flooring... but how many people have a damp basement today?
   
   In older days, the basement was an infrequently used crawl space with only a earth base, so moisture was an issue... today the basement is usually a fully finished living space with the same environmental conditions as the rest of the house... sooo there is no moisture to keep out of the flooring If you are installing flooring above a damp crawl space then certainly using tar paper as a moisture barrier is a great idea. But maybe a better idea is to consider other flooring options that are more able to deal with high moisture conditions.
2. In the old days subfloors were traditionally made of rough lumber. Installation of hardwood flooring using wax paper was common, to prevent the slivers from the rough lumber getting caught between the tongue and groove connection of the neighbourhood boards of hardwood flooring. If a sliver of wood got caught between the boards then it would leave cracks and make wood floor installation more difficult.
   
   Today we always use oriented strand board (OSB) or plywood as the subfloor so dealing with the fibers of rough lumber is rarely an issue... and NOT a reason to use a hardwood floor underlayment or wax paper.

As pointed out earlier, many suggest that we should install felt paper to stop squeaks--- Felt Paper does not stop squeaks--- usually squeaks are caused by
1. subfloor (plywood) movement against floor joists (especially in cases where bracing has been removed to install air ducting)
2. strips of hardwood flooring moving against each other, particularly when nails have been spaced too far apart or tongues broken during installation.
Felt paper will NOT help either of these conditions.
Thus make a decision that makes sense given your particular job site issues and don't work under the illusion that underlay paper is an easy solution to moisture migration or squeaking in hardwood flooring installation. If you want to use it, go for it. Its not expensive. But deal with squeaking and moisture as separate issues.
As a last point, I really don't like using tar paper as a hardwood floor underlayment under any conditions as my personal hangup is that it adds toxins to the home environment that I don't want to breath. If its not necessary then why expose your body to this element!




Source: http://www.woodsthebest.com/Flooring/installPaperUnderlay.htm

More Examples Of our Work

More Examples of our Work

Examples of our work

Hardwood Manufacturer Reviews

Our view of Bruce Hardwood Floors is on the Good. Owned by Armstrong Industries, the company has seen it's market share dwindle over the years due to increased competition, and in the past  lower quality control. This is not so in recent years the quality has improved greatly and it is once again it gaining momentem in the industry.
This is not to say all products are at the lower end of the quality scale. Many of Bruce's products are ideal for the average family lifestyle consumer, providing a price point target while offering traditional natural and stain colored hardwoods. A favorite among home builders as well for its consitency in quality and multiple stain choices, Bruce manufacturers a limited amount of the more trendy types of hardwood flooring consumers are after today.

Bruce products are more viewable than any other hardwood flooring products, shown in thousands of flooring showrooms across Canada and USA. While we give good to great rating some quality issues are barely noticeable for those seeking a functional floor while not expecting furniture type quality Bruce is top of the list.

Overall rating  

Anderson Flooring

Our view of Anderson Hardwood Floors has always been favorable. The company offers mostly engineered hardwoods in trendy darker stained colors and many high end hand scraped distressed lines in wider plank format up to seven inches wide. Main species line include Hickory, Maple, Red Oak, and some Pine hardwoods.

Anderson features cross-locked engineering and a choice of two world-class finishes. Real wood floors made of Maple, Oak, Beech, Elm and Pecan are pound for pound stronger than steel. The 5-ply cross-locked engineered construction is up to 100% harder than oak lumber flooring and will not buckle. This innovative construction technique makes the most out of every log while increasing stability and durability up to 100%.
Overall rating

Mirage Hardwood Floors

Our view on Mirage Hardwood Floors has always been extremely favorable. If there's a Cadillac of hardwood flooring this company would be fighting for the top slot. One may wonder, why not a five star rating? Mirage produces some of the best milled hardwoods in the world, but what sets it back is the use of shorter material in their engineered and solid hardwood lines.

Granted, if you're not looking for the standard shorter lengths that run approximately 13 to 31 inches on many of their engineered lines, the overall appearances of their floors after installation is near perfection.
Numerous stain selections in both engineered and solid can be found including the fading white look popular in the 80's. Mirage hardwood floors are not supposed to be sold over the internet. It's a policy they prefer to keep intact to solidify a quality position benefiting their dealers. With the internet anything goes. If you look hard enough or ask...somebody will sell it you you. We know, we've been there.
Overall rating


More to come.

Technical Flooring

Choices for Wood Flooring

Choices for Wood Flooring




National Wood Flooring Association - NWFA

Reprinted with permission.



Wood flooring is available in a number of sizes and make-ups, each offering its own distinct advantages. People are often surprised by the limitless choices that wood flooring affords them. Today's wood flooring is right for virtually every room. Choosing the right kind and style of wood flooring is not hard if you are familiar with several industry terms.



Choice #1: Unfinished wood flooring:

Unfinished flooring is a product that must be job-site sanded and finished after installation.



Choice #2: Pre-finished wood flooring:

Pre-finished flooring is factory sanded and finished flooring that only needs installation.



Choice #3: Solid wood flooring:

Solid wood flooring is completely lumber. It is available in unfinished and pre-finished. Solid wood flooring is produced in:



Strip - in thicknesses of 5/16" to 3/4" in widths of 1 1/2, 2" and 2 1/4"

Plank - in thicknesses of 1/2" or 3/4" and widths of 3" to 8"

Parquet - geometrical patterns composed of individual wood slats held in place by mechanical fastening or an adhesive

Choice #4: Engineered wood flooring:

Laminate wood flooring is produced by bonding layers of veneer and lumber with an adhesive. Laminate wood flooring is available in pre-finished and unfinished. These products are more dimensionally stable and are ideal for glue-down installation or float-in installation above grade, on grade or below grade, including basements and humid climates. Laminate wood flooring is produced in:



Strip - thicknesses of 5/16", 3/8", 1/2" or 5/8" and in widths of 2" and 2 1/4"

Plank - thicknesses of 5/16", 3/8", 1/2" or 5/8" and in widths of 3" to 8"

Parquet - one-piece wood tile available in 9" x 9" or 8" x 8" and other patterns

Choice #5: Acrylic impregnated wood flooring:

Acrylic impregnated is a pre-finished wood flooring product. Through a high-pressure treatment, acrylic and color are forced into the pores throughout the thickness of the wood. The "finish" is inside the wood, creating an extremely hard surface. These floors are highly resistant to abrasion and moisture and appeal most often to commercial customers but are also used residentially. Acrylic impregnated floors are available in the same styles as laminate floors.