Morning!

I recently took on my first attempt at laying engineered hardwood floors in our master bedroom. After completing the tongue and groove install, my wife noticed that the floor felt “soft” in comparison to our previously glued down floor. After doing a bit of research it appears that the Underlayment that we used (Shaw Sofsound II-4mm) over the wood subfloor is creating the softness.

I am preparing the finish the remainder of the downstairs this weekend and was thinking about switching to a new style of Underlayment. Has anyone had this experience? Does anyone have any suggestions for a thinner, less bouncy Underlayment that would be appropriate for a relatively level wood subfloor?

Any suggestions appreciated!-Jake

Floating floors tend to feel different than glued down floors as there are slight up and down movements as you walk and the floor adjusts the weight around. This is one reason why floating floors can squeak more than glue-down. As long as there is no deflection or major movement then the "soft" feeling is perfectly normal. Do keep a eye on your relative humidity, as all floating floors are more prone to movement from seasonal expansion and contraction compared to glue down.

What your wife deems excess softness is called deflection. When the floor is walked on it squishes down from the weight. This gives some comfort on a hard surface like concrete. Most underlayment foam will also get "crushed" over time and help with floor leveling as the high spots will be somewhat diminished as the foam will become flat where the continuous pressure flattens the underlayment.