The 7 Best Underlayments For Vinyl Flooring

For most vinyl plank jobs, QuietWalk LV is the safe answer. It's a dense felt made from recycled fibers, topped with a plastic film that keeps moisture from a concrete slab away from the floor. MP Global approves it under planks that already have a pad, which plenty of underlayments can't claim, and covers it for life under a limited warranty. The glue strip on the seam overlap can peel loose, so keep tape handy.

If your planks already have a pad and you're laying them on concrete, the Roberts Moisture Barricade may be all that needs to go underneath. It's a heavy black plastic sheet that stops damp from the slab from creeping up into the floor, the kind of barrier many plank makers ask for. An adhesive strip seals each overlap. Skip it over a wood subfloor, where trapped damp can do harm. It adds no cushion and does nothing for noise.

Made for vinyl alone, the Floor Muffler LVT is a thin, firm foam that works as its own moisture barrier, so no extra plastic goes down over concrete. One edge seals itself to the next row, and tape closes the ends. The maker allows it under planks with or without a pad, and over radiant heat when the flooring maker agrees. Its sound ratings differ between sellers' sheets, and stock comes and goes.

Upstairs bedrooms and condos are where the Roberts AcoustiShield makes sense. Its closed-cell foam is designed mainly for vinyl planks, and Roberts rates it high for stopping footsteps from carrying into the room below. The foam is stiff enough to protect the click joints, and a lip-and-tape system seals each seam against moisture. It works under floating, glued or nailed floors. It's new, so there's no long record of how it holds up.

Rubber keeps its shape where soft foam flattens, and that's the case for DuraPad. It's made mostly from recycled rubber on a white backing, and the seller lists it for vinyl planks, vinyl tile and carpet tile, including floors with radiant heat. The dense mat also helps hush footsteps. It sits on the thick side for click planks, so check your flooring maker's limit before buying.

A cheaper way into MP Global's vinyl line, SoundStep LV swaps felt for a thin foam with a vapor barrier already attached. The maker approves it under planks that come with a pad, and it works for floating, glued and nailed floors alike. Because it's so thin, it hides fewer dips and bumps in the subfloor. Stock runs short at times, so buy every roll for the job at once.

STEICO Wood Fiber boards suit people who want a natural layer and have a wood subfloor. The sheets are pressed from wood fiber with no added glue, stiff enough to protect click joints, and they let moisture breathe out instead of trapping it. That also means no vapor barrier, so concrete would still need plastic film. A carton covers only about 40 square feet, which makes a whole room costly.