Padding to put under vinyl-plank hardwood flooring to help with sound?

Hello Everyone!

We are starting to replace our flooring in units and Im wondering if anyone knew about a padding to put under vinyl-plank hardwood flooring to help with sound?

My flooring installers accidentally put this throughout an entire third floor garden style unit and the resident had a small child and I literally never had one complaint to my surprise.

Shannon Green put what?

Just vinyl plank through the whole apt it was only supposed to go in kitchen and bathrooms.

Shannon Green well i was wondering if there was a padding they could put underneath er?

I have never seen that except with floating hardwood

The flooring manufacture should recommend a brand of underlayment. That way your warranty won’t be voided.

I had LVP installed by a commercial contractor and they laid a blue thin plastic layer under it. It didn't make much of a difference because now the apartment sounds echoey..maybe the liner wasn't thick enough.

Sherwin Williams uses a liner called Whisper Step. So far no complaints from those apartments below- you can feel the difference when walking on it.

Elizabeth Sweat I called them and they said that doesn’t exist

Show your rep this. There are other similar products.

We haven't put the LVP in anything but a single family house, but we used cork flooring (came in a roll) to 1) compensate for a height difference and 2) sound transmission between levels. I also believe the cork was recommended by the installer, but might have been a manufacturer recommendation. It would seem that a higher quality laminate/engineered flooring backer would work as well...something like Pergo Gold, but not sure. Just have to be mindful of the compression characteristics of the material being used as a substrate. We used the Coretec product about a year ago. They have various thicknesses available to accommodate the transition from one material to another. The finish layer plus a dense foam layer much like rigid insulation. Overall, a year later and it still looks like new, even with a 60 lb indoor dog!

Here's a link to Whisper Step.

lpflooringproducts.com/flooring-underlay...layment/whisper-step

Shaw has 3 acoustical underlayment for use under glue down LVT

Groundworks 157 VS
Hush II 170VS

Happy to assist further if needed or check out this link

shawfloors.com/flooring/how-to/vinyl/und...silient-underlayment

Home Depot sells three types of padding, We have used all three, The new one they have comes folded with grid lines on it for easy install. It is pet proof as far as liquids. Easy to lay down and comes with self seaming tape, to join each section with. We use the padding on the second floor and it helps a lot with sound.
It also feels great underneath the laminated flooring we use through out the entire apartment. Carpet is no longer used in our complex. It's like a rental car no one wants to take care of them.
I am sorry, the other two pads they sell, comes in rolls. They are harder to lay down. Ether staples or tape to keep them from rolling back up or causing buckle under the flooring.