Ok, now to prove my ignorance...

1. When installing a floating engineered wood floor on concrete, I am planning on using a 6 mil poly, an underlayment and then the flooring. It's a walkout basement, the slab has some cracks in it (which I plan to fill - generally 1/8" or less), it generally does not seem humid and we have not had water or mold problems. Currently carpeted. We also have an underslab radon "vacuum" system, which I assume also helps with the MC. There is a lot of emphasis on doing moisture testing on these discussions, but with the poly and underlayment, what benefit does additional sealing of the floor provide if there MC is high (but not excessive)?

2. Underlayment recommendations? The flooring is Mannington, they have two (Aquabarrier II and Whisper 3N1) and obviously there are many others (Quietwalk, etc.). Are there warranty reasons to stick with the flooring brand underlayments or should I just use the best available? Any thoughts on these three or others?

Thanks in advance!

Using anothers underlayment will allow the manufacturer say. "Its not our problem, it is that other manufacturers problem."

Mannington is big time with that. Years back I was trained by Mannington, in New Jersey, to be one of their "Resilient Adjusters". It was brought to my attention that their adhesives ,( private labeled), were the exact same as other adhesives by one manufacturer. The only difference was....Mannington's was manufactured with flecks, that coud be identified under black light. " Their adhesive sold for about 50% more. But if you didn't use it....all warranties were void.


_________________
Howard Chorpash
Frazier Mountain Hardwood
http://www.lasvegaswoodflooring.com

Mannington is big time with that. Years back I was trained by Mannington, in New Jersey, to be one of their "Resilient Adjusters". It was brought to my attention that their adhesives ,( private labeled), were the exact same as other adhesives by one manufacturer. The only difference was....Mannington's was manufactured with flecks, that coud be identified under black light. " Their adhesive sold for about 50% more. But if you didn't use it....all warranties were void.


_________________
Howard Chorpash
Frazier Mountain Hardwood
http://www.lasvegaswoodflooring.com


I remember that, they had tracers in it and so did allot of other manufacturers. Wasn't their adhesive made by Henry's?

It was...Henry's. Back when practically all the installers used 356.

Pergo ( Perstorp) , also did that with their glue, when laminates were glued up. We would use a 10x magnifier, and a black light on the seams, to see if the job was glued up properly, and if it glowed...it was their glue. It was also easy to tell if all the glue was cleaned off the surface. That cleaning of glued up laminates was a real PITA for installers.


_________________
Howard Chorpash
Frazier Mountain Hardwood
http://www.lasvegaswoodflooring.com

It was...Henry's. Back when practically all the installers used 356.

Pergo ( Perstorp) , also did that with their glue, when laminates were glued up. We would use a 10x magnifier, and a black light on the seams, to see if the job was glued up properly, and if it glowed...it was their glue. It was also easy to tell if all the glue was cleaned off the surface. That cleaning of glued up laminates was a real PITA for installers.


_________________
Howard Chorpash
Frazier Mountain Hardwood
http://www.lasvegaswoodflooring.com



Yes, but the seams were water resistant, unlike the click systems of today. I also remember the manufacturers saying it would make them water proof, but still no sloshing water on it. Yet, installers would/did get blamed for improper adhesive application if the seams swelled. If was a farce to say the least. Mainly because the sponge or rag would pull glue out of the joint, and then there are microscopic anomolies in the adhesive if you looked close enough.

Still, I believe the glued laminates were a superior floor than the click systems. The man did everyone an injustice by exclusively making click systems so the DIY crowd could do their own floors eliminating the installer out of a large portion of the market.