Yes, you generally need to tape the seams of your flooring underlayment. Taping keeps the rolls from shifting during installation, prevents the underlay from bunching or overlapping, and ensures your floor performs optimally.
Whether your underlayment needs to be glued down depends entirely on the type of underlayment and your flooring choice.
Not always. Gluing is recommended on concrete floors where staples can't be used. Timber floors usually work best with staples. In some cases, underlay can stay in place with tape and carpet pressure alone.
If there is no shiny surface, one side usually features a thin backing material secured by what looks like mesh. This should face up into the room, in contact with the carpet. The rubber or foam side should face down towards the subfloor.
No subfloor is perfectly level, but any signs of unevenness and high or low spots must be remedied. Please follow these requirements: Subfloor unevenness cannot be greater than 3/16 of an inch over a 10-foot span or 1/8 inch over a 6-foot span.
Common Flooring Installation Mistakes Homeowners Make
If your chosen underlay does not have integrated adhesive tape, use dedicated 50 mm wide aluminum tape to seal the joints. This will prevent the strips from shifting. Once the surface is prepared, you can start laying your laminate flooring.
Instead of using glue, the best practice is to secure plywood underlayment panels with staples or screws. These fasteners provide a solid hold without the downsides of adhesive.
Yes, absolutely! Not only is it possible to lay your own underlay, for most projects we actually recommend it. Even if you're a bit of a DIY amateur – and have no previous experience in this area – most underlays are now designed with easy installation in mind.
The best way to secure an underlayment depends heavily on its material. For wood/plywood underlayment, use a pneumatic narrow-crown stapler with 18-gauge staples placed every 2 inches on seams and every 4 inches in the field. For foam or felt underlayment (floating floors), secure the edges with specialized seam tape.
How To Avoid The Top 5 Carpet Installation Mistakes That Will Cost You Money
When Underlayment is Not Necessary for Laminate Flooring
ROBERTS Underlayment Seam Tape is ideal to join underlayment and carpet padding seams during the installation of floating flooring applications. Manufactured with a strong adhesive, this PVC-based tape ensures tight seams that hold for longer-lasting flooring installation.
If you have a very flexible floor, you can use some construction adhesive to help glue down the underlayment. You'll still need to use nails, but the glue will help stop the wood from flexing.
The "Rule of 3" in flooring is a design principle that recommends using no more than three distinct flooring materials or color variations throughout your entire home. Limiting your design to three elements creates visual cohesion, prevents a chopped-up layout, and ensures smooth, intentional transitions from room to room.
Floor squeaks can be caused by movement between Underlayment and subfloor panels or by the Underlayment sliding on the fastener. Avoid gluing the Underlayment to the subfloor with construction adhesives, which could develop installation or stain- ing problems with certain types of resilient sheet flooring products.
Screws will wedge the laminations apart. Attach a cleat to the plywood and screw to that. You can if the joint won't be bearing any load but make sure you pre drill to avoid splitting the plywood laminations. Also, don't attempt to over-tighten your screws as it is essentially end grain and can strip out more easily.
Nails are a favorite for large jobs in construction because they're cheaper than screws and offer shear strength — or the ability to withstand shear pressure, where two surfaces slide past each other.
For sealing underlayment seams, the best accessible alternatives to specialized underlayment tape are construction-grade duct tape, clear packing tape, or Tuck tape (often used for vapor barriers). These alternatives effectively hold the underlayment together while the top floor is being installed.
Yes, taping is recommended when laying underlay for laminate, especially if you're working with rolls. Using tape helps to secure the edges and keep the underlay in place, preventing it from shifting during the installation of your laminate flooring.
The 1/3 rule is a tile-laying method where each rectangular tile is staggered by one-third of its length, rather than the traditional 50% offset. This layout gives your room a subtle, sophisticated flow. Long tiles, like timber-look planks or large-format porcelain slabs, especially benefit from this approach.
In 2026, flooring trends revolve around warmth and natural textures, with cool, flat grays officially on their way out. The most popular colors include:
Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) is widely considered the easiest flooring for beginners, featuring a "click-lock" system that allows planks to snap together without glue or nails. It is highly durable, waterproof, and easy to cut with just a utility knife. Other beginner-friendly options include peel-and-stick vinyl tiles and floating cork flooring.