Across the country, many homeowners are in possession of a basement. In many cases, these spaces are unfinished and left as a cold, dingy area that is best left for laundry tasks and holiday decorations. For the DIYers out there, an unfinished basement is a perfect place to create a renovated space that helps to improve the home’s comfort and enjoyability. From the floors to the walls, it’s important to invest in quality components for your basement renovation project. This sentiment can be especially true when it comes to installing new flooring over concrete floors. Your flooring material will play a major role in the consistency and comfort of your finished basement. Laminate flooring, for example, is a cost-effective option for many homeowners that, when installed correctly, can create beautiful outcomes for the home.
If you’re in need of a quality laminate underlayment that provides the most value possible, Eco Cork Foam is here to help! Our product is designed to be the absolute best underlayment for laminate flooring, relying on our unique polyethylene blend with granulated cork to create a long-term solution for your project. Our product is designed to hold up in the worst conditions, including your cold and musty basement. Today, we’ll discuss the dangers of skipping a floor underlayment when installing materials such as laminate in the basement. When you are finished, be sure to try a roll of our laminate flooring underlayment to see the quality at work!
Level Flooring
One major challenge will be ensuring that your subfloor is flat and level for flooring installation. Concrete flooring is very rigid, making it difficult for homeowners and contractors alike to make cost-effective changes. When the subfloor isn’t level, your laminate planks will be less able to bind together securely, separating your boards and creating costly problems. Serious issues such as bumps and depressions must be rectified for the best results. Otherwise, you’ll feel every bump and divet when you walk over your new laminate floors. Our laminate underlayment provides rigid support and enough coverage to smooth out minor imperfections, creating a uniform flooring system that is better able to stay connected. If your concrete floors are not level by any measure of the word, we recommend installing plywood baseboards first to create a smooth working surface.
Comfortable Steps
Concrete is comprised of sand, rocks, cement, and other components to create a hard, cold surface in your basement. The cold and damp nature of basements can make it feel frigid in your new space, even after the floors and fixtures are all in place. Homeowners will find that it is nearly impossible to negate this humidity problem, making it very important to find a floor underlayment that can provide proper levels of comfort.
Our laminate underlayment is designed to add comfort and warmth to your floors. With a high thermal insulation rating, Eco Cork Foam is better able to provide cushioning for your feet, keeping moisture and the impending cold away from your flooring. Our rubber and cork flooring underlayment is designed to work in any room, and the improved buffer underneath your laminate planks will go a long way in retaining full-scale comfort.
Moisture Concerns
As we have already pointed out, moisture is inherently present in your basement regardless of whether or not you have a water source located there. Laminate flooring relies on its high-density fiberboard (HDF) core for strength and support, yet this central component lacks the ability to resist moisture. Water concerns in the basement are serious, and most recommendations warn against installing laminate below grade at all. If you are concerned about moisture sabotaging the quality of your new laminate flooring, it pays to invest in a floor underlayment that was designed for such purposes.
Eco Cork Foam features a built-in 6 mil vapor barrier to provide the highest level of protection for your floors. After extensive testing alongside other underlayment options, we are proud to say that our laminate underlayment scored the highest, delivering 360 degrees of protection with our built-in barriers. You don’t want to risk losing your new investment to moisture problems, so be sure to work with Eco Cork Foam for the best results!
Installing laminate planks can prove to be a cost-effective upgrade for your home flooring that increases the beauty and functionality of your space. If you are installing over a concrete floor, it pays to find a laminate underlayment that can hold up to the challenge. Contact us today to learn more about our groundbreaking product or stop by your local Home Depot® store to try a roll for yourself!
