I used to think all underlayment was basically the same until I read the specs on a 6mm cork roll from Home Depot

Turns out the cork has an R-value of 1.8 compared to foam's 0.5, and now I'm ripping out half my living room floor because I wanted cold floors for wine storage but my wife said no way, anyone else get blindsided by insulation numbers after they already started?

2 comments

2 Comments

adams.henry6d ago

Did you check the subfloor vapor barrier specs before you started? I made a similar mistake when I laid laminate in my basement a few years back, used the cheapest underlayment I could find and ended up with condensation issues that took me two weekends to fix. That cork R-value difference is a real kicker, especially when you're already halfway through a project and staring at a pile of pulled-up planks. I feel for you, that's the kind of detail that makes you read every single label twice from then on. At least your wife drew the line before you finished and had to redo the whole thing.

the_john6d agoTop Commenter

Yeah I switched to a closed cell foam underlayment and it solved everything. Night and day difference.