Does anyone have experience with the vinyl plank flooring that is available at H

ome Depot? Its main selling point is that it is “sound proofing” with a soft underlayment. I know it won’t look like a hardwood floor, but I am looking for an easy sound barrier from a rental apartment above me.

Bklynsolid

in General Discussion 4 years and 4 months ago

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greenworks | 4 years and 4 months ago

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Vinyl plank is not laminate. Laminate is awful sound-wise. Vinyl will be better at sound attenuation. We’ve been looking for vinyl plank ourselves at Depot recently for our basement (we’re big in to hitting the “easy button” lately).

You can also check out cork flooring. I installed it myself in my old condo that I eventually rented out and it was awesome at sound attenuation, if a little less durable than vinyl.

For our basement project we eventually ordered from builddirect.com but the stuff at depot is just fine. Just get a plank over 5mm with sound reducing underlay.

hkapstein | 4 years and 4 months ago

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I installed some recently, the purpose had nothing to do with soundproofing, but it was to replace some other vinyl flooring in a kitchen. The vinyl is more water resistant than wood, and the installation is easier, but I doubt they are better or even as good as hardwood floor for sound attenuation.

brokelin | 4 years and 4 months ago

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I suspect you’ll regret installing it. I’m temporarily living in 70’s-built condos that were originally all carpeted. The people above me installed, I suspect, laminate planks. (I saw the real estate photos from the listing three years ago, and the carpeting had been torn out in therm, it was apparently so damaged.). The reason I suspect they installed laminate is that I hear loud creaking when they walk, ALL the time. That’s additional noise to their stomping around. (And I suspect it is laminate because using hardwood, which I’d love to do in my own place if I get stuck here, would be over improving this cheap place.)

I have lived in old buildings for decades in cities with original wood flooring, including apartment buildings and plenty of Brooklyn brownstones, and I have NEVER heard the floor creaking constantly. I heard footfalls, and occasionally loud disrupting noises (like my brownstone coop upstairs neighbor who every night woke me loudly and reminded me of the origin of the phrase “waiting for the other shoe to drop,” and hearing a desk chair rolling aro und on the wood above me as a student finished her late night papers, but never did the FLOOR ITSELF add to the noise.

Install basic oak hardwood planks. They will be quieter, and they will last much longer – longer than you’ll be alive. And, yes, require rugs with pads.

I suspect that even with rugs and padding (which this condo’s rules don’t require because no one then imagined anyone would use anything but carpeting), the laminate would still creak horribly beneath the weight of the people walking on them, negating much of the point of using the rugs to quiet sound to begin with.

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 4 years and 4 months ago

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BUT I suspect you’d still want rugs over it to muffle sound from overhead.

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 4 years and 4 months ago

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I just installed Lowes own brand of vinyl plank flooring in my large walk-in pantry. I imagine the HD stuff is comparable. While I wouldn’t personally want it in a “real” room it actually looks pretty good.