Can You Put Cork Under Hardwood

Perforated cork underlay under a wood floor.

Can you put cork under hardwood. Generally cork can be installed as a floating underlayment that is not adhered to the original subfloors or by gluing the cork in place. Cork underlayments come in a variety of thicknesses depending on the floor covering application. The cork will be pierced thousands of times and that will cause the cork to crumble. The type of installation method is also variable depending on the homeowner s preference.

Cork cannot be pierced by nails staples screws or cleats. Cork underlay can be used under tile marble laminate cork floating planks and hardwood floors. This gap can be hidden in the finish step. We offer our cork underlayment in three sizes 3mm 6mm and our new baby 12mm.

2 mm 2 5 mm cork underlayment generally are used for under glue down and floating engineered hardwood laminate luxury vinyl tile and plank. When using cork under hardwood a few issues come to the fore. They offer soundproofing insulation a moisture barrier and added comfort while also helping to level out the subfloor. Glue down fiberglass and felt backed sheet floors.

Plastic foam felt cork and rubber are common choices. Glue down will follow the format of the hardwood installation floating vs. If you choose to glue down your engineered hardwood flooring using a cork underlayment underneath you would need to glue the cork down securely to the subfloor and then you can glue the hardwood directly on top of that cork. A floating or glue down hardwood can work with cork underlayment 1 4 cork 6mm very nice.

As you ve said your gut tells it won t work and in the long run it does not. In a kitchen installation remove the cabinet toekicks if possible so you can run the cork under the cabinets. If the kick is stationary plan to install the flooring up to within inch of the toekick. Underlayments for hardwood floors provide multiple benefits depending on the material that you choose.

The form of install floating vs. In addition cork provides soundproofing for second story wood floors in homes. It can be floated unattached to the subfloor or it can be glued in place. However do not expect this application to provide the benefits as they do with floating or glued floors.

Using cork with a nail down application over common wood sub floors is something that can be addressed with any knowledgeable professional.