9 best substrates for laminate

Before laying the laminate, you need to perform another very important construction step - to lay the substrate. After laying the substrate laminate is no longer visible, but the life of the flooring depends on its quality. Not all laminate buyers purchase and lay the substrate. However, it performs a number of functions: damping, sound and moisture insulation, insulation, leveling the surface. Its presence significantly increases the service life of the laminate.
To date, there is a large variety of options for substrates: from cork, extruded polystyrene foam, polyethylene foam. In our ranking are the best of them, judging by the reviews of real buyers.

Top 9 best substrates for laminate

9 PE foam

One of the most simple and affordable materials. It costs the least in comparison with competitors, but also has several disadvantages. Let's start with the merits. Polyethylene foam is resistant to the formation of fungus and mold, as well as to pests and rodents. It has good thermal insulation. Due to the presence of closed foam cavities, the material has good protection against moisture penetration from the outside onto the laminate.

We turn to the minuses of customer reviews. One of them is its low resistance to stress - over time, the polyethylene foam is deformed and partially loses its positive effects. Another disadvantage is a very small thickness, because of which the material has a low noise insulation performance.

8 Crosslinked polyethylene foam

Unlike conventional polyethylene foam, the production technology of the cross-linked colleague is much more complex and involves several steps. As a result, in addition to all the positive characteristics of regular polyethylene foam, this material has other advantages: high strength, microbiological resistance, 20% lower thermal conductivity. The service life of the material is at least 15 years. Other advantages are moisture resistance, excellent noise insulation. The disadvantage is the higher price compared to conventional polyethylene foam.

7 Conifer

This type of substrate is made of coniferous wood. Differs in good sound insulation. The coniferous substrate is made in the form of plates, the material is environmentally friendly. The composition of the substrate does not use any chemicals. Material resistant to rotting, resistant to fire. It is easy to cut and fit. It can be used both in apartments of apartment buildings and in private houses.
The coniferous substrate perfectly smoothes the small irregularities of the base, due to the thickness of seven millimeters. It keeps warm well, you can walk barefoot on the floor without any discomfort. The material is very strong and durable. A slight drawback of the substrate in the comments is fragility, you need to be very careful when laying so as not to break it in unnecessary places.

6 Extruded polystyrene foam

This type of substrate is obtained by extruding polystyrene foam under pressure and high temperature through an extruder.The material has good strength, due to which it has a greater resistance to deformation. Available in rolls and sheets. Its great advantage is its low thermal conductivity, i.e. it keeps warm well. In a heated apartment the floor will be warm, you can walk barefoot without discomfort.
Due to the features of production and high strength, the material is very durable. Also worth noting is the low moisture absorption - expanded polystyrene can be used even in wet rooms. The material has good sound insulation characteristics.

5 Tuplex

Another type of combination substrate. It consists of three layers: the two extreme layers are polyethylene film, the middle layer is a sheet of expanded polystyrene granules. The multi-layered material gives it a number of advantages. This is a very high strength and resistance to stress, excellent sound insulation, good moisture insulation of the laminate due to plastic film. Another advantage is the presence of its own air circulation. The material is elastic, conceals and hides the small roughness of the floor, well dampens steps on the concrete and wooden base. It is very easy and comfortable to work with him, easy to lay.

4 Foil

One of the most popular and widely used materials that are used as a substrate. It consists of two layers - aluminum foil, and glued to it with a special adhesive second coating. It can be polystyrene or polyethylene. Thanks to the use of two different materials, the range of advantages of the foil-coated substrate and its area of ​​application is greatly expanded. So, it can be used in wet areas, the foil layer will perform the function of waterproofing. Also, foil increases floor insulation by 30%.
Other advantages of the material are high noise insulation and protection of the laminate from breakages: the substrate softens the load, thus eliminating the likelihood of cracks and breakage of locks. The foil base prevents the formation of mold and mildew. Depending on the curvature of the floor, a foiled substrate can be laid with a thickness of 2 to 10 mm.

3 Integrated

Some manufacturers of laminate immediately complement its substrate, so you can do without additional laying the base under the floor covering. The integrated backing consists of rubber, glued to the laminate in the factory, and a thin non-woven material. It perfectly slides on the screed and has good sound insulation, dampens noise when walking on a wooden and concrete base. The disadvantage of such a substrate is its high cost - a laminate with an integrated substrate, as a rule, is expensive.

2 Bituminous cork

The material belongs to the multilayer. It has a higher moisture resistance compared to conventional cork substrate. The material consists of two layers: one layer is fine cork, and the second is kraft paper with the addition of bitumen. It is also distinguished by good sound insulation - perfectly dampens steps on the floor and other noises. The bituminous layer prevents the penetration of moisture from the outside into the parquet, and the cork layer provides ventilation, thanks to which moisture is removed from the substrate through the plinth. The material is also characterized by elasticity, thanks to which it smooths out unevenness of the wooden and concrete floor.

1 Corkboard

The cork backing is very popular due to a variety of excellent features and benefits. The material is not subject to decay and mold, no chemicals are used in its production. The fastening compound that connects the cork particles together is a substance of natural origin - subberin, which is located in the cork bark itself.

In addition, the cork substrate does not lose its shape, perfectly suppresses footsteps, has good noise insulation characteristics. Also, the material is not exposed to rodents and pests. The downside of cork is low moisture resistance and high cost. Therefore, for wet rooms cork substrate is not suitable.

Popular vote - who is the best manufacturer of laminate substrates
We vote!

Tuplex

LLC "IZP"

Premium cork

STEICO UNDERFLOOR

Tarkett

Isoplaat

IsoPolin

PARCOLAG

Arbiton cork

Total votes: 7

Vote results