Flooring factsheet Underlay In a tight market for margins, underlay for carpet and hard flooring offers retailers one of the best opportunities to add value to every sale – with good profitability, trade-up potential once benefits are understood and high customer satisfaction levels. The Carpet Foundation and its Consumer Code of Practice approved by the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) recommend that new carpet underlay is bought with every new carpet.
www.interfloor.com
Many consumers are now aware of the benefits of underlay but more needs to be done to provide information about the different types available and their suitability for different areas of the home. Setting up in-store demonstrations so customers can walk on samples with different grades of underlay and feel the difference has shown excellent results. Some manufacturers offer point-of-sale units and foot testers.
www.interfloor.com
Benefits
Types
Good underlay will... • Improve underfoot comfort • Increase appearance retention, reducing flattening • Absorb the pressure of foot traffic and reduce wear • Improve thermal insulation and warmth • Increase sound insulation • Smooth out sub-floor imperfections • Last the lifetime of the carpet
PU (polyurethane) foam This is now the market’s most popular underlay and is typically made from recycled foam offcuts. The foam provides excellent comfort and performance levels with lots of thickness options and densities and provides great insulation – and its light weight helps handling.
Poor or old underlay will... • Feel hard and unwelcoming • Reduce carpet life • Cause wrinkling and premature wear spots • Cause carpet fibres to break down more quickly • Not meet British Standards How thick? A maximum of 12mm is recommended (working with gripper will be difficult thereafter) but rooms with heavy traffic will need a thinner, denser pad. The combination of thickness and density is all important as a thick underlay with low density may not perform well. Typically, the thicker the underlay, the better quality it will need to be – 11mm is often used for luxury installations with 9mm and 7mm the common domestic thickness.
Sponge rubber
Crumb
Sponge rubber Introduced in the 1950s, this is a more traditionally manufactured underlay available in flat or waffle patterns in a wide range of weights for different applications. It performs well for comfort and has a durable spring retention.
PU foam
Laminate underlay There’s still an opportunity to sell underlay with laminate flooring, improving the acoustic performance of the floor and helping the boards float above any imperfections in the sub-floor. Combination A rubber crumb base with a felt top layer offers a good combination of protection, durability and comfort. It also allows carpet with seaming to bed into the top felt. www.underlay.com
Felt This traditional (but environmentally friendly) undelay is made from recycled fibres – wool, jute and synthetic – to create a firm, dense pad with excellent thermal insulation. Still a very popular choice among contractors when stretch fitting woven carpets. Pre-tackified underlay A self-adhesive single stick underlay in both needlefelt and PU. A removable system for heavy use when comfort is desired.
THE STOCKLISTS March 2018
www.carpenterunderlay.co.uk
Crumb rubber Flat and dense, crumb rubber is good for heavy footfall – offering maximum protection but a little less comfort (and very good over stair nosings).
Underfloor heating underlay Always ask if there is underfloor heating. Most manufacturers offer specialised products. Underlay and carpet with a combined tog rating of 2.5 can be used – which means the underlay would normally have a tog rating of 1.0.
Combination
www.floorwise.co.uk
www.qaflooringsolutions.com
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