Looking for Carpet Right..dont be caught out with expensive underlay.

Waffle Rubber Based As Supplied By The Majority Of Retailers.
As a general rule of thumb

There seems to be a never ending amount of carpet underlay available to the general public through various different carpet outlets throughout the UK.

But this is not really a true statement.

The main type of underlay supplied by the Nationals is of the waffle rubber type and believe it or not,there are only a handful of suppliers and different types available.

Retailers will supply the same underlay under different names with only slight specification changes to prevent the consumer being able to compare prices at other retailers.

This allows retailers to charge a totally inflated price for the product on offer.

Rubber based waffle type carpet underlay, as supplied by the majority of retailers, comes in various different weights,this is the only main difference and there are only five main different weights available.

The weight of the underlay is related to the "feel underfoot",the heavier the weight,then the softer and thicker it will feel when walking upon it.

So a 65lb weight will not have the luxurious feel of the 130lb weight underlay.

The only exception to this,is that the 150lb weight feels harder underfoot than the 130lb.

If comfort is required then the 130-135lb weight has the most luxurious feel.

As can be seen a 65lb underlay has a
profile as shown and you can clearly
see that the wall of the waffle is relatively
thin.This type of underlay is ideally suited
to light use area's or with felt backed carpets
throughout the house as thse have a built in underlay and combined they will give a good feel underfoot.Major carpet retail chains sell this type of underlay for Ł3.99 plus per sq.m!

100lb weight underlay has to be the most
popular weight in the UK.It is ideal for all
area's in the house including Hall,Stairs
and Landing.
An ideal base for your carpet giving good feel and wear.
As can be seen the wall of the waffle is a lot thicker than the 60lb underlay,this is what supports the carpet and what gives the weight,the more underlay the heavier it is.

130lb underlays are the most popular weight of
Luxury underlay in the UK.
These are divided into two groups,the
slightly less luxourious underlay is the
130lb waffle underlay,its of the same
construction as the 100lb and 60lb underlays but has a slightly thicker wall to the waffle again.
The second type is what is called a "Flat Bed"underlay,this is more of a sheet of blown rubber which tends to support carpets slightly better than waffle based underlays.We supply the flat bed variety and the waffle based underlays.Most retailers however ,tend to supply just the waffle based underlays.

There are other weights available and we have given the main three examples above to show the difference in blown rubber underlays.

Pu rebond carpet underlays have been supplied in
the UK for just over 10 years now and are becoming
ever more popular.These types of underlay are
made from waste from industries such as the
furnishings industry.So what is it?The underlay
is made up from foam as you would find in car
seat,sofa's etc and it is chipped into foam fragments
and then rebonded into a sheet of foam based material.
The advantages of this type of underlay is that its light,easy to handle,gives excellent heat insulation properties and feels great under your carpet.This type comes in different thicknesses and is not measured by weight.The main two thicknesses are 9mm and 11mm thick.The 11mm is the almost the thickest carpet underlay you can buy and is ideal for Luxury use.

Crumb Rubber underlays are underlays manufactured
from recycled car tyres.Car tyres are granulated then
made again like the PU underlays,into a sheet of underlay.
Extremely hardwearing and ideal for very heavy wear areas
including shops,offices and homes that have wheel chairs as
they give great support and resist compression better than
any other type of underlay.They come in different thicknesses
and density.One of the more popular products in the UK is Duralays Treadmore which has a 25 year guarantee.

Felt underlays tend to have become less popular to date as
they were one of the first carpet underlays to be produced.
They have a tendancy to flatten and trap dust.But the combination type
felt and crumb rubber are best at airborne acoustic noise reduction.

Modern day products as with most things have come along way with better insulation and some underlays with less insulation for use with underfloor heating.

We hope this has been of interest to you and should you require any further assistance then please conatct us.

Q.Which is the best underlay for a concrete floor?

A.If you do not have underfloor heating,then a high tog underlay would be best as this will offer good insulation.Try the Tredaire Dreamwalk or Softwalk.

Q.I want an underlay that gives excellent noise reduction?

A.The Tredaire APT range has the best noise reduction properties of all the underlays we sell, Dreamwalk has a noise reduction of 46db.Please note that all acoustic sound insulation figures are based on impact sound and not airbourne sound.

Q What have underlays to do with room acoustics?

A.An important function of floorcoverings is to improve the acoustic environment. Anyone who has moved into an empty house knows how harsh and noisy the rooms seem before the furnishings, and particularly the carpets, are installed. Floorcoverings are able to achieve the hushed environment, which is both comfortable to live with in practical terms, and also has become associated with luxury and taste. They do this by providing absorption and insulation of airborne noise and by reducing transmission of structure borne impact noise. Interfloor underlays considerably enhance the performance of floorcoverings, and their acoustic benefits should not be underestimated.

Q.Well, OK, but what is airborne sound?

A.Sound travels through air as oscillating waves of compression and rarefaction. This is airborne sound . A freely suspended loudspeaker, for example, would achieve 100% airborne sound. However in practice all sound sources will be connected in one way or another, and to a greater or lesser degree , to the walls, floor or ceiling of a room. Sound also travels in these and is referred to as structure borne. Since one form is readily converted to the other, noise will not occur purely as one type.

Q.Is there a the difference between sound insulation and sound absorption?

A.Yes. Sound insulation is the ability of material to stop noise created in one room penetrating to another. This is achieved in two ways, only one of which is desirable. Firstly, sound may be reflected back into the room in which it was created: this echo effect is characteristic of hard non-porous surfaces .It leads to a noisy environment in which speech and music are not clear because the listener hears the original sound repeatedly, but separated by time intervals, and at reducing intensities. Secondly, the sound energy may be converted into another form such as, initially, mechanical movement of the receiving surface, and subsequently to heat This is sound absorption. Where present to a high degree, a quiet and clear environment in the room is achieved, and penetration into adjacent rooms is low. A good carpet/underlay combination can be very effective in achieving this.

Q.What is impact noise?

A.Impact noise is produced when an object strikes the floor. Some of the impact energy is converted into noise, which is airborne directly back into the room. Whilst this in-room noise is actively being researched at present in conjunction with the producers of hardfloors such as laminate etc. standard methods have not yet been adopted to measure it by the major national and international standard organisations. However, some of the impact energy is also transmitted to the floor structure mechanically, and is then transmitted as sound energy into adjacent rooms, particularly that below .Since the structure of the floor determines to what degree this effect can interfere with neighbours, the characteristics of the floor constructions in this respect are specified in building regulations . When a floorcovering is present, there is cushioning of impact so that the resultant noise transmitted through the floor is reduced. This is neither insulation nor absorption. It is reduction of the energy level at source. Underlays are important in this function, which is why we publish performance specifications for this property.

Q.Do you sell part bags of underlays?

A.Yes,we can supply half rolls of most carpet underlays we stock,please click on the <<More Info Click Here >> links on the web pages to buy half rolls.

Q.I have under floor heating,which underlay is best?

A.Please check with your heating installer, but you are limited usually of having a combined tog rating of around 2.5 for the carpet and underlay with this type of heating,this does limit you to the types and styles of underlay.
We would recommend that you visit our new underfloor heating underlay page here or if not Duralay Heatflow at 0.75,tog,which is designed for use with underfloor heating.
(Please note...Avoid the use PU underlays such as Cloud 9,Tredaire Dreamwalk and Softwalk or Felt carpet underlays for underfloor heating applications as the Tog values for these underlays are between 2.0 tog to 3.2 tog and will prevent the underfloor heating working correctly.)

Q.What is the difference between blown rubber and crumb rubber?

A.Crumb rubber is made from recycled car tyres that have been crumbed and then bonded together,it is very hard wearing and usually used in commercial applications were comfort is not as critical as wear.
Blown rubber is a rubber material that is similiar in looks to foam but made from a rubber based type material.

Q.I want a carpet underlay that has excellent thermal properties?

A.The Tredaire Dreamwalk has the highest tog rating of all the underlays we sell and is therefore the best at heat insulation.

Q.I would like the thickest and softess underlay available?

A.Cloud 9 Cumulus and Treadire Dreamwalk have the softess feel underfoot.They are 11mm thick and have a lifetime gaurantee.
They are a light weight underlay and has been voted number 1 in the carpet trade for some years now.
Once you have used these products you will never go back to traditional carpet underlays.