Subfloor, underlayment, and joists are all important components of a flooring system. It is important to understand these three elements in order to choose the best option for your home. But how can you do that?
According to the report of the National Wood Flooring Association, a subfloor is defined as “the structural layer that provides the flat surface on which the finished flooring is installed.”
The subfloor is the foundation of your flooring system and is typically made of plywood or OSB (oriented strand board).
But underlayment is different. Underlayment is a layer of material that is placed between the subfloor and the finished flooring.
And joists are the horizontal support beams that make up the frame of your flooring system.
That’s why you need to completely read this article. Because in this article, I have covered almost every important thing about subfloor, underlayment, and joists in flooring including their differences.
Also, I have shared differences between subfloor and underlayment and joists. If you want to know about these things in detail then must read this article till the end.
So, let’s get started.
What is Floor Covering?
Floor covering is a general material applied on top of the subfloor for finish walking or good looking flat surface in the house.
If we talk about floor covering then the most materials used are carpet, tiles, laminated and vinyl. Selection of the floor covering materials is crucial for the soundproofing of any house.
It is the topmost layer from which sound or noise reflection happens, so make sure to buy such flooring materials which are having good Noise reduction coefficient (NRC), Sound Transmission Class(STC).
But in case of floor covering, better to check the impact insulation class (IIC) and find out the ability of any material to minimize or reduce the impact noise.
Examples Of Floor Covering
Here are a few examples of popular floor coverings that you can choose from when it comes to your home.
1. Carpet
Carpet is widely used in every house due to its noise or sound-absorbing capacity it minimizes the echos and improves the sound quality in the house.
Denser and high-quality carpet really help to reduce the impact noise and the core soundproofing material as it is made of varieties of materials like wool, nylon, and polyester, etc.
2. Wood Flooring
This is the basic flooring, you have seen in almost every houses, it is either made of hardwood or softwood. Buying wood could be expensive as compared to engineered wood.
Engineered wood has a thin top layer of wood with a very strong core base, if talking about the wood flooring than people also use Bamboo which is part of hardwood flooring.
3. Laminate Flooring
It is the best choice for those who are looking for an attractive look to the flooring as it is the man-made designed flooring material which front surface is decorated in varieties of colors.
Laminate flooring is designed of Flipboard which top up with multiple printed and protective layers and it is more durable than the hardwood.
It is designed in a way to durable in any environment, so no more shrinking or damage to the floor and will be a one-time setup and forgets for a longer duration.
4. Tiles flooring
This is the hard and tough flooring which includes the concrete and tiles flooring material. Tiles are available in different shapes and mainly made of marble and different natural stones.
After installation, it requires proper polishing to give decorative looks to the floor. These days people also started floating tiles flooring which is easy to install without any adhesive.
Till this point, you got an idea the very first top flooring component which we call finish flooring importance and use in floor soundproofing.
What is Underlayment?
Well, Underlayment is the first layer you will find under the floor covering, the use of an underlayment is not compulsory for every flooring but yes it is a must recommended in most of the cases.
Basically underlayment is placed in between the top floor covering and subfloor to provide a smooth base for the top floor covering.
It is under the floor covering and that is why hidden from the direct viewing but the most effective solution in soundproofing and moisture resistant.
It is made of plywood, Flipboard, hardwood, and cement board and many other favorite choices.
Importance of Underlayment
Let discuss the importance of underlayment and why this is a crucial part of floor construction.
- It provides a smooth and flat surface for the top floor covering.
- It helps to improve the adhesive nature of the tile’s floor covering.
- It helps to minimize the noise due to its noise-absorbing capacity, mainly effective in laminated flooring.
- Underlayment is resistive to moisture which in a result, no moisture rises from the foundation of the floor can pass through and spread across the floor covering.
- Due to flatness, it also helps to eliminate the problem of fixing the top floor covering.
- It also helps to keep the floor warms.
- It also helps to create insulation under the floor and minimize the noise vibrations.
I imagine the above points are good enough to explain the importance of Underlayment but is it compulsory for all types of flooring?
Is Underlayment compulsory?
Underlayment has much more important but the very best is to use in case when if you have subfloor which is not that much flat and unleveled throughout the room which causes an issue with top flooring.
In some cases, you don’t even need underlayment, you can directly lay down your floor covering on top of the subfloor but most recommended underlayment for laminated flooring.
As discussed, underlayment can be plywood, cement board or OSB but you can also use soft underlayment which will not sticky to the subfloor.
Foam and cork are part of soft underlayment where they provide proper insulation for the noise and also help to cover the small holes and gaps of the subfloor to provide more levelness for the floor covering.
As far as my learning, you should not replace your hard underlayment with the soft as hard underlayment will be more effective in case you are laying down a new floor covering on top of the existing.
It is advisable to have your underlayment as thin as possible to avoid any unnecessary issues.
Must use underlayment,in case of soundproofing between the existing floors if you are living in an apartment which has noisy neighbors upside and down to the apartment.
What is Subfloor?
The subfloor is the hardest and flat surface above the joist and below the underlayment or maybe in case of no underlayment just below the floor covering.
Floor covering is not that much efficient enough to bear a whole lot of weight on the floor hence a strong base set below that to handle the weight of machinery and everything on top of the floor covering.
The subfloor is must for every floor to create strong support and provide a level surface for the floor covering,it actually stabilizes the foundation of the floor.
It is the foundation of the flooring on top of which many activities carried out so these are strong, rigid and durable enough to face every worst condition happening on the top flooring.
Subfloor could be a wooden plank, plywood Oriented standard board (OSB) or concrete material but mainly in the house basement, people use the concrete subfloor.
Never confused subfloor with the underlayment as the subfloor is the mandatory component for any flooring construction however underlayment is optional.
These days in Europe, most of the newly constructed houses are sold without a floor covering as there will be the last layer of subfloor only, the reason is later on top of that people can lay their own choice of floor covering.
Some Materials Should Be Use In Subflooring
Subflooring is the base layer of your flooring system, and it is important to choose the right materials when installing subflooring. Here are some materials that you should use when installing subflooring:
1. Wooden Plank Subfloor
It is the oldest material people use in the 1950s which are usually the size of 1*6 and made of pine fir or kind of same softwood.
These were easy to fix with the joist using the flooring glue or standard nail boxes but this has been replaced with the plywood subflooring.
2. Plywood or OSB Subfloor
It is the most favorite subfloor material used these days which comes into the thickness of 1/2 inch and 5/8 inch thickness.
It is also easy to install by gluing with the joist using the adhesive material and can be available in thinner or thicker sizes.
The thinner one is effective for vinyl or any such flooring and for tiles flooring better to have thick subfloor.
3. Concrete Subfloor
It is most recommended in the case of ground floor or basement as it allows easy fixing of tiles floor covering.
Concrete subfloor has an issue with the moisture release to the top floor covering so ideally it is recommended to have an underlayment for the concrete subflooring.
It has an issue with coldness and hardness, which be eliminated by setting up soft underlayment like foam in between the top floor covering and the subfloor base.
Well, till this point you are clear with what is a subfloor and which materials are very famous for subflooring.
What is Floor Joist?
Joist is the fundamental of the flooring architecture and the mandatory for any flooring architecture except concrete flooring.
Every other layer of flooring is built on top of the joist, which means it is the bottom-most layer in flooring construction.
A joist is a horizontal structure placed between the beams to provide strong support for the subfloor created on top of the joist.
The joist is made of wood, engineer wood, or steel the quality of the joist material will decide the weight-bearing capacity of the floor. The closer the joists are will improve the more strength and can carry more load.
If there is a wider spacing in between the joist can cause deflection under heavy load and that is why people have started joist products such as i-Joist which has high strength and more weight-bearing capacity.
I-Jost are made of engineer wood which is no likely to bow, twist, crack or split even in very heavy load condition.
Buying Guide For The Best Floor Joist
Floor joists are an important part of any home’s construction. So, if you’re planning on doing any kind of home improvement or construction project, it’s important to choose the right floor joists for your needs. Here are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for floor joists:
1. Size of Joist
The ideal joist dimension should be in the range of 2*6 inches where 2 inch is in width and 6 inch is in verticle length.
2. Spacing of Joist
The ideal spacing of the joist from the top layer should be in between 16 inches, which improve the ability to handle enough weight.
To improve the joist ability to bear the weight more than common weight than make sure all joist should put closer with around 10-12 inch spacing.
Great, you got almost every idea of what is joist, what is subfloor, what is the floor covering and what is underlayment let me compare in brief.
Wrap Up On Subfloor vs Joist vs Underlayment vs Floor Covering
Well till now you got a good idea on what individuals are all about so let me summarize for you so you will get a conclusion on your learning.
Starting from the top, then the topmost layer is the floor covering which you can view from the top and you walk upon that below than that there will be an optional layer we call underlayment.
Beneath underlayment, there will be a subfloor which will provide flat support for the floor covering and subfloor is laid on top of the joist.
Which means joist is the base and made of thick wood ideally in the range of 2 inches width and 6 inches in verticle length and all this joist has lied on the beam which is more than 4-6 inch in thickness.
It is not always mandatory to have underlayment but well recommended in case of concrete flooring to avoid moisture pass to the top flooring.
Never confuse in between underlayment vs subfloor as the underlayment is an optional however subfloor is basic need of any flooring and if struggling with the soundproofing than better to check how to soundproof a flooring.
FAQ: What is Subfloor, Underlayment, and Joists
Many people have many questions related to Subfloor, Underlayment, and Joists. So here I am answering some important questions.
Q1. How do you know which type of flooring to choose for your home?
Ans: There are many factors to consider when choosing to floor for your home, including the type of activity that will take place in each room, your budget, and the overall look and feel you want to create.
Q2. Why is it important to have a solid subfloor?
Ans: It is important to have a solid subfloor because it provides support and stability for the flooring material. It also helps to protect the flooring material from moisture and other elements that can cause damage.
Q3. How do you know if your flooring needs joists or beams?
Ans: You can determine if your flooring needs joists or beams by checking the manufacturer’s specifications. If the manufacturer recommends using joists, then you’ll need to install them before your new flooring can be installed.
