Floor Muffler Brand Flooring Underlayment

What is it? – The Floor Muffler brand is a closed-cell type of foam underlayment with an attached moisture barrier. While it is considered an upgraded or modified underlayment, which will be discussed in the next section, this product is uniquely different. Floor Muffler’s manufacturer put a lot of high-tech engineering into the development of this product. Their main goal was to eliminate the hollow sound, or echoing, that consumers sometimes complained about with laminate floors or other floated installations. Some of the benefits of the Floor Muffler product are: * Much less expensive than cork underlayment * Reduces reflective sound and through-the-floor sound transmission * Designed to provide a walk-on sound similar to that of traditional wood floors * Suitable for use over both concrete and wood sub-flooring * Exceeds recommended moisture permeability ratings for installation over concrete slabs * Optimal thickness for both comfort and stability * Helps eliminate sub-floor imperfections * Mold and mildew resistant and non allergenic * Adds R-value to improve flooring insulation * Strong enough for residential as well as the most demanding commercial installations While this list of benefits may be impressive to read, the bottom line is it actually works! Over the years, many manufacturers have told us that they cured the hollow sounding floor problem, but when put to the test their products ultimately failed to perform. However, when we tested Floor Muffler, it did. While nothing can completely eliminate the sound, this product reduces it more than any of the others. Floor Muffler is our number one pick as an underlayment for floated floors. Where is it used? – Floors Muffler brand underlayment can be used over concrete or plywood sub-floors. It is designed to be used with any floated installation – hardwood, laminate, cork or bamboo. Since the product has a built in moisture barrier, it can be used below grade, at grade, and of course, on above grade levels. Please see our notes listed in the next section regarding condo buildings. While the manufacturer states that Floor Muffler can be used with glued-down applications, we cannot offer comment one way or the other, because we have had no experience with it in that manner.