Flooring question

[forgeblast]

Hi folks, Looking at an engineered snap and click floating floor for our modified A-frame. This would be in the second floor.
We found a color that works for the room along with the fact that it needs to come out into the hallway were we have a knotty pine great room.
Its at LL (Lumber Liquidators). I was reading reviews on their underlayment and was not impressed by what other pros have said about it.
We would like to get a high quality underlayment as we are only going to do this once. Noise reducing if possible.
I have see products like Silent Stride but really do not know too much about it. Are there any that people can recommend. It will be going over a plywood base then the flooring once we rip out the carpet (last carpet in the house!!!).
This is the flooring we are looking at. BELLAWOOD Engineered 1/2" x 3-1/2" Acacia Quick Click Engineered Hardwood Flooring | Lumber Liquidators Flooring Co.

Thank you for any help, Appreciate it.

 

[EddieWalker]

No direct experience with Bellawood or Lumber Liquidators. I've just heard too many complaints about them to give them a try. I've always felt that if you stick with the bigger name brands, you have a better chance of getting a quality product.

 

[dalola]

Can't comment specifically to the product you're looking at, but we put down Bellawood (solid wood American Cherry) from Lumber Liquidators about 8 years ago in our great room, product is fantastic with 100 yr warranty on the finish, and LL had a great price & good to work with.

For what it's worth...

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

I have purchased probably 2500-3000 sq ft of flooring from Lumber Liquidators. All of it has held up remarkably well. The higher priced underlayment from LL is good. I have used the cheaper stuff and it worked for what it was designed to do. My neighbor paid twice the price for underlayment from a flooring company and it was identical stuff.

The Bellawood floors are very good. Very durable. Just make sure you get enough to complete the project when you order. Sometimes it could be 6 months before your style goes back into production / stock.

 

[herm0016]

quality underlayment is good, but the real issue with a loud floor is a very very flat subfloor.

 

[KennyG]

In general I like engineered flooring. I've used bamboo and found it performs very well. As far as noise control the underlayment is key. I own a condominium and the rules require cork underlayment, other types are not acceptable.

 

[forgeblast]

Thanks everyone, We have a few smaller flooring retailers around us, home depot lowes and LL.
Does anyone have any experience with silent stride or an underlayment that they like for under engineered flooring?
Thanks

 

[nyone]

If you have a flat quiet sub floor your floor will be quiet. Engineered flooring just feels fake and crappy to me. Foam underlayment just adds to this.

I put the cheapest engineered flooring I could find in our back porch and didn't even use underlayment. It's quiet and not squeaky. 2x10x10' floor joists 16OC with 3/4 sub floor.

 

[rgr33]

I put down a foam underpayment in my wife’s sewing room and it really cut the noise down. I have been in homes where they skipped that step foe economical reasons, and later regretted it.

 

[GeneV]

I laid down bamboo in my basement. I think I paid something like $2.50 / sq ft at the time at Home Depot. Going on 4 years now, still looks brand new, this wonderful flooring.



There are different types of bamboo flooring, this stuff we got is strand woven, the claim is that it's way harder than oak flooring.

I found underlayment prices to be way too high at home improvement stores, I had better luck on Amazon. I got a 3-in-1, 3mm thick. Like I said, it went in the basement, on concrete. Being upstairs, you'll just need a 2-in-1.