I'm looking at replacing about 850 sq ft of wall-to-wall carpet on my second floor with solid hardwood.

What sort of underlayment is indicated? I was planning on using Aquabar B; seems easier and cleaner than roofing felt to deal with, and not very expensive. I'm also seeing a lot of other choices from cork to 'engineered' products. For a second floor install would you experts suggest putting in something sound deadening, like floor muffler, or is that overkill?

While I hate to waste money on something that might not be needed, I would hate more to wish for the next 50+ years that I had used a different underlayment.

What would you experts put in your houses?

Thanks,

John

Where are our up north experts or the ones that may deal with wood subfloors and sound deadening? Does the NWFA address this issue at all?

Sorry JM, I wish I had the answers for you.

There was a discussion quite a while ago on the subject with Gary contributing...one guy we really miss because he was always more detailed and his reasoning in that discussion still makes a lot of sense today.

sound-proofing-solid-hardwood-floor-t5115.html

I just have a feeling a product like that would compress (because of fastening with all the nails/staples) to the point it may not be effective at all. You could look into Bostiks MVP and similar. They mention some sound absorption properties.

Cork is another idea, but after re-reading what Gary mentioned I'd have to say it may not work as you may want it to.