Can You Put Laminate Wood Flooring Onto a Concrete Slab With Just Padding?

Concrete

• Concrete on ground level or in a basement can wick moisture from the ground below. If you have poor drainage in the basement, the moisture content of the concrete slab can be high. When you install laminate over concrete subfloors, you need to use an underlayment that will protect the laminate from the moisture coming from the slab of concrete.

Underlayment

• Standard and modified underlayment is used under laminate, but when you install laminate over a concrete subfloor, you need a moisture barrier underlayment, also called combination underlayment. Combination underlayment has a 6 millimeter polyurethane film attached to standard foam underlayment. This type of underlayment provides a barrier between the laminate flooring and the concrete.

Above Ground Concrete

• Concrete slabs above ground level do not need a moisture barrier. You can use standard, modified or cork underlayment to cover the subfloor. Standard underlayment is about 1/8 inch thick and is generally used when the sound level between floors doesn’t require any type of reduction. Modified and cork underlayment is used when you need a high level of sound reduction between the floors.

Caution

• Newly laid concrete has moisture even if the concrete is above ground level. You must wait six months to one year before laying laminate on new concrete slabs. It takes this long for the concrete to cure and the moisture used to make the concrete to evaporate from the concrete. A moisture test kit available from your local flooring dealer or a home improvement store can be used on any concrete floor to check the level of moisture before laying any laminate flooring. Manufacturers such as Pergo recommend doing a moisture test on all concrete floors before installing laminate.