Roofing felt is mainly installed in the roof as water repellent, but are you considering installing the Roofing felt as underlayment for your laminate flooring?
If this thought just hit you, let me warn you about some worthy information so that your decision to use Roofing felt as underlayment would not destroy your laminate flooring!
Can I Use Roofing Felt as Underlayment for Laminate Flooring?
To make your laminate floors more secure, you must use underlayment, but what kind of underlayment should you use?
Some people use Roofing felt as underlayment, which makes you think, “Can I use roofing felt as underlayment for laminate flooring?” Yes, for the underlayment of laminate floors, you can use Roofing felt. Roofing felt will work well as underlayment for laminate flooring; it will maintain the moisture of your floor and the noise level.
Though the Roofing felt is not the only and best underlayment option, people still use it because Roofing Feels cheaper than other underlayments, making people prefer it.
5 Benefits of Using Roofing Felt as Underlayment for Laminate Flooring
Roofing Felt is mainly used to make the roof waterproof to prevent water leakage. But, many house owners prefer Roofing Felt as their underlayment for laminate flooring.
Though thousands of underlayment options exist in the market because it’s affordable with other advantages, people prefer to have this as their underlayment.
1. Maintain the Floor’s Dryness
To long-last your laminate flooring, you must keep your floor dry and need proper cleaning because the floor’s moisture can cause mold and will decrease floor durability. You can use Bona floor cleaner to clean your floor, which works well on laminate floors.
The materials of Roofing Felt make it super water resistant. As the Roofing Felt is water resistant, it is also a barrier to moisture that helps keep the laminate floor dry.
2. Affordable
Most flooring experts recommend placing something on the ground floor as a moisture barrier. As the Roofing Felt comes with a low price, they prefer to install it as underlayment for laminate flooring.
If you search about other underlayments, you will see that the price of other underlayments is much higher than a Roofing Felt.
3. Desirable Size
You can adjust the Roofing Felt according to your floor size. You need to cut the Roofline Felt according to the floor size and set it up.
4. Prevent Floor Noise
It’s pretty annoying when you walk into your house, and every step of yours makes noise. To get rid of this noise, Roofing Felt will help you.
Roofing Felt provides slight cushioning, which helps to lessen the floor noise.
5. Generating Heat
A Roofing Felt also helps the floor to produce heat. It will be the best choice for you if you live in a cold country because it will keep your house warm during the winter.
Though the Roofing Felt is not as superb as other underlayments, it has the features as other underlayments, so many people consider it their underlayment.
5 Easy Steps: Installation of Roofing Felt on Laminate Floors
If you have much Roofing Felt left in your house and want to install it as underlayment for your laminate flooring but don’t know how?
Then this guide is for you; check out below for step-by-step instructions on “How to install Roofing Felt as underlayment for laminate floors?”
1. Prepare the Floor
First, you must remove the trim of your floor to clean it, and you can get several products to clean the laminate floor.
Because without cleaning the trim, if you place the Felt, it will create more noise, and mold will grow.
Clean the floor trim properly and make sure to dry it well.
2. Cut the Roofing Felt
If you are done cleaning, it’s time to cut the Roofing Felt according to the floor size.
To cut the Felt, use something super sharp to place the size perfectly on the floor.
3. Set the Felt
You have to roll out the felt and ensure it’s not rolled up again. You can place heavy things on it or fix it with staples or roofing nails to prevent it from rolling.
The best place to begin is in a room’s corner, ensuring no gap between the Roofing Felt. But there is no requirement for you to overlap the Felt.
4. Attached are the Felt Courses
You can use any long tape to attach each course of the Roofing Felt with another. But make sure the attachment should be with each course of Felt with another, not the floor.
5. Reset the Floor Trim
When your whole ground is covered with Roofing Felt, press it well to set it perfectly. If there is any excess Felt left, then cut it off.
Now that you are done placing the Roofing Felt as underlayment, it’s time to reset the floor trim.
Considerable Facts: Before Installing Roofing Felt as Underlayment
Many people install Roofing Felt as underlayment for their laminate flooring as it’s cheap. But then, Roofing Felt aims to provide water resistance service for the roof.
As the Roofing Felt is not designed for underlayment uses, there are some facts you need to know before installing Roofing Felt as underlayment.
- The thickness of Roofing Felt is not much like other underlayments, so it can’t entirely reduce the noise level from the floor.
- Roofing Felt is water resistant, so you must dry your subfloor before installing it.
- It will keep your house slightly warm, but not entirely.
- The durability of Roofing Felt is not as long as the other underlayment.
- Roofing Felt is flammable, so make sure to keep all the flammable materials away when you’re installing it.
Is Roofing Felt Safe to Use on Laminate Flooring?
Roofing Felt protects the roof from water leakage, but many people also use it as their laminate floor underlayment.
The Roofing felt you might include several chemicals, which may cause you to wonder about its safety. Your concern is considerable because you should know the risk before applying anything.
The Roofing felt does present a slight risk, but when used appropriately with proper cautions, it is safe. If you carefully use it, it will be safe, but if you unconsciously install it, that could be a reason for an accident!
That’s why you should know the safety maintenance of the Roofing Felt.
1. Heating Issue
When a Roofing Felt is heated, it releases Hydrogen Sulfide gas which is toxic to health. However, the quantity of gas released is very few.
But still, you need to be aware and try to keep it cool as much as possible. Don’t perform any activity which can cause overheating of the Roofing felt.
2. Flammability
When putting Roofing felt, keep a safe distance from open flames or smoke because it is flammable.
It is flammable, so it can easily catch fire, so beware of using it.
3. Doesn’t Contain Asbestos
You may have heard Roofing Felt has Asbestos in it, which is very toxic for humans. Yes, the previous design of Roofing Felt had Asbestos, but the modern one doesn’t contain any Asbestos.
So you shouldn’t worry about it, you need to be careful before buying whether you pick the old or the modern one.
As you can see, the risk contained in Roofing Felt is entirely possible to avoid with proper caution. That’s why people prefer to use it as their underlayment, as it is generally safe.
Check this video to learn more.
The Closing Remarks
You may be concerned about whether ” Roofing Felt as underlayment for laminate flooring” is applicable or not. Check out the facts then:
- You can use Roofing felt as an underlayment for laminate flooring.
- It’s an effective way to prevent water damage to your floor and prevent noise.
- It will generate heat.
- With proper caution, Roofing Felt is entirely safe for humans.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What may be used as a subfloor underneath laminate flooring?
Laminate underlayment is a thin pad placed beneath laminate flooring to make the surface more comfortable to walk on and ensure that the laminate boards are appropriately bonded.
Layers of polyethylene foam, cork, or felt are attached to the underside of laminate flooring. You can buy a roll of the same material to use as a subfloor.
2. Is Roofing Felt safe to breathe?
A Roofing Felt is not anticipated to provide exceptional emergency hazards under typical usage conditions.
Suppose someone has inhaled too much dust from the product. In that case, they should go outside to get fresh air because they may experience temporary upper respiratory irritation and congestion.
3. Is it possible to utilize Roofing felt beneath hardwood flooring?
Yes, it’s possible. You can use either staples or nails to set up.
When installing solid flooring on the wood subfloor, It is recommended to use 15 lb. black felt paper as underlayment with staples or nails.
Despite its superficial resemblance to roofing paper, its texture couldn’t be more different.
4. How long can Roofing Felt stay exposed?
No longer than two weeks should Roofing Felt be left outside. Although the Roofing felt underlay is partially waterproof, it is readily damaged by the elements.
5. Do you nail or staple Roofing Felt?
Some roofers prefer using unique nails with plastic washers or one-inch roofing nails to secure felt underlayment; most codes allow the use of staples, which are much easier to drive.
6. What can be used as underlayment for laminate flooring?
Despite the availability of different options, cork and foam are the most popular underlayment materials for laminate floors.
Cork has the advantage of being thick and quiet, but the foam is a sound moisture barrier and costs much less.
7. Do you have to glue the Roofing Felt?
Get some felt and cut out a patch to put over the hole. If you can, try to find a piece of Felt that is square or rectangular and cut it so that it extends 5cm on all sides beyond the damaged region.
The Felt can be tacked down instead of being nailed. The felt patch can be applied with glue around the damaged area and pressed.
8. How much should Roofing Felt overlap?
The Roofing must overlap the lower felt course by at least 2 inches.
The sheathing and shingles above are protected from water damage by a secondary moisture barrier provided by the overlapping Felt.
Therefore, as the barrier is most vulnerable at the margins, a 2-inch overlap offers redundancy.
Auntara has always enjoyed writing, even as a little child. She has expertise in writing on a variety of subjects, including interior design, gardening, and property and house design.
