Enhancing Design Excellence with Innovative Surface Solutions
Floor Underlayment
Turning our attention from walls to floors, we begin by looking at a significant component that can influence design as much as performance. Regardless of what finish flooring material is used, that material needs to be installed over something else. Hence, the choice of a suitable substrate with an appropriate underlayment material deserves proper attention. In the case of hard surface flooring in particular, such as wood or tile, the use of a performance-enhancing underlayment can help with design issues related to acoustics.
Photos courtesy of MP Global Products
Quality underlayment beneath hard surface floors can contribute to the acoustic design of the building where it is used.
Quality fibrous underlayment that addresses acoustical control can quiet sound from impacts, dampen ambient noise, and inhibit sound transfer from traveling to the room below. As explained by Duane Reimer, technical director of MP Global Products, “This can be especially important for the design of rental units, condos, and multifamily housing.” As one component of a complete floor/ceiling assembly, the underlayment can contribute to the tested values of the assembly. The commonly referred to Sound Transmission Class (STC) rating stated for an assembly is typically determined by testing standards set forth by ASTM International. STC is a single number rating system used to qualify the performance of a floor/ceiling assembly's ability to reduce airborne sound transfer—speaking, laughing, etc.—within established frequencies. Generally, the higher the STC rating, the better the floor assembly blocks noise from transmission through a wall or floor assembly.
The ASTM also has a test for Impact Insulation Class (IIC) values. IIC is also a single number rating but it tells how well a floor/ceiling assembly deadens or absorbs impact sounds such as footsteps. The IIC value of underlayment can often play the largest role in sound control between spaces in multistory buildings. As with the STC rating system, the higher the IIC number, the more sound that is deadened. Knowing what STC and IIC ratings are available, and what they stand for, is important when choosing the correct underlayment to go with a flooring system. Quality underlayment can also muffle the hollow sound and undesirable clicking noise that some engineered wood or laminated flooring can have when walked upon, thus enabling it to sound more solid. If the project owner or designer is specifically concerned with acoustic performance as part of the design, then check sound ratings of the underlayment. Manufacturers that test their products and get good results typically include them in company literature, on product packaging, and/or on the company website.
CASE STUDY: LUXURY HIGH-RISE AND THE NEED FOR QUIET BETWEEN FLOORS
Project: Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort Hotel
Location: Sunny Isles Beach, Florida
Photos courtesy of MP Global Products
The challenge: Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, has 355 hotel rooms and guest suites, each with a private balcony with views of the Atlantic Ocean or the Intracoastal Waterways. An appropriate flooring system needed to be specified to meet or exceed the standards of the building industry for sound abatement within the state of Florida and Miami-Dade County and have other performance capabilities, as well.
Design criteria: The developers of the resort, Donald Trump and Dezer Properties, wanted an underlayment that would address noise abatement, crack suppression, and potential mold issues. It also had to meet code requirements set by the industry within the state of Florida and Miami-Dade County plus be easy to install and cost effective. In Florida, there are code requirements for the floor assembly to address abatement of floor-to-floor noise between dwelling units in high-rise buildings or between units and public or service areas.
The solution: A fibrous underlayment was selected, specified, and installed. This high-performing earth-friendly fiber acoustic underlayment was selected for its ability to be used under glue-down and nail-down hardwood and engineered wood floors. It was also properly used under ceramic, porcelain, and stone tile, where it acts as an isolation barrier. The underlayment selected is engineered to provide noise abatement, aid in crack suppression, and help minimize potential mold issues—all areas of concern for the project.
The underlayment features randomly air-laid filaments that create a capillary effect that cushions the floor and absorbs impact sound. It carries a Field IIC rating of 60 when tested under 3/8-inch glued-down engineered wood and when tested under ceramic tile, each time over 8-inch concrete with no ceiling assembly. The underlayment also helps smooth out imperfections in the subfloor and suppresses the transfer of lateral cracks up to ¼ inch from concrete subfloors to the covered flooring material. It also includes an antimicrobial additive that inhibits mold growth and, with an R-value of approximately 0.50, adds a bit of a thermal break to the flooring assembly.
Angel Acosta, construction project manager, Trump Grande Ocean Resort and Residences, observed, “The underlayment was easy to install, cost effective, and met all the code requirements set by the industry within the state of Florida and Miami-Dade County.”
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