Plywood Underlayment

November 12th, 2012

What is Plywood Underlayment?
What tools do you need to install Plywood Underlayment?
What features make a Plywood Underlayment superior?
What are my Plywood Underlayment Options?
How do I install Plywood Underlayment?

What is Plywood Underlayment?

Plywood underlayment is a layer of material installed underneath a finished resilient floor. The term plywood underlayment is not interchangeable with the term sub-floor. The sub-floor is the structural plywood that is used during construction. It is usually a composite product such as OSB that is manufactured for its strength and engineered structural qualities. Plywood underlayment is the layer of plywood that is fastened over the structural sub-floor. It creates a uniform, smooth surface for resilient flooring. If your structural sub-floor is not sound then you should repair or replace it prior to installing your plywood underlayment.

Patriot Timber Products offers two premium, warranted plywood underlayments: SurePly® Premium Underlayment and IronPly® Premium Underlayment. Both of these plywood underlayments were engineered to specifically provide durability and ease of use.

What Tools do you need to install Plywood Underlayment?

  • A quality plywood underlayment such as SurePly® or IronPly® Premium Underlayment
  • Circular saw for cutting the plywood underlayment panels to the correct size
  • If you wish to score and snap the plywood underlayment you will need a utility knife and straight edge
  • Pneumatic fastener tool – either for staples or nails depending on the fastener you choose
  • Either double coated chisel point staples with a ¼” maximum crown or coated ring shank nails with a 3/16” diameter head (galvanized flathead wood screws may also be used)
  • Seam filler if you choose to lay the plywood underlayment with an expansion joint
  • Materials needed for the application of the seam filler (clean bucket, water, mixing tool, trowel – refer to the bag of seam filler for the necessary materials)
  • A broom or vacuum to clean the sub-floor prior to laying the plywood underlayment and prior to laying the resilient flooring on top of the plywood underlayment
  • Materials needed for the installation of your choice of flooring (please note that we do not warrant our plywood underlayment panels for use under ceramic tile)

What features make a Plywood Underlayment superior?

The old standard for resilient vinyl flooring was lauan (commonly referred to as luan). Lauan is no longer the standard since better, sustainable alternatives are now available.

There are a lot of plywood underlayments on the market which leads you to the question, what makes one plywood underlayment superior to another plywood underlayment? When making a choice, consider the following key elements:

  1. Does the plywood underlayment have a stencil pattern for ease of installation?
  2. Is the plywood underlayment warranted?
  3. Does the manufacturer provide an installation guide specifically for the plywood underlayment panel?
    Is the guide easy to follow?
  4. Does the manufacturer provide a phone number for you to call if you have questions regarding the installation of their plywood underlayment?  Do they offer online support?
  5. Is the plywood underlayment vinyl industry approved?
  6. Is the plywood underlayment manufactured to be environmentally friendly?  Are the panels manufactured using no tropical hardwoods and using 100% plantation and sustainable wood sources?
  7. Does the plywood underlayment fit in to your budget for the job?  Does the manufacturer offer different plywood underlayment options at different price points?

What are my Plywood Underlayment Options?

Patriot Timber Products offers two warranted plywood underlayment options. The first isSurePly® Premium Underlayment. SurePly® is backed by our Lifetime Warranty. The “x” stencil pattern on the face of the underlayment panel provides the installer or homeowner with a guide for fastener attachment. It is vinyl industry approved and each plywood underlayment panel goes through a five point inspection process. No special tools are required for SurePly® installations. We provide online support and can also be reached at 1-877-787-3759 should you have plywood underlayment installation related questions. You can also find our SurePly® Premium Underlayment installation guide atwww.SurePly.com.

The second option that Patriot Timber Products offers is IronPly® Premium Underlayment. IronPly® is backed by our Lifetime Warranty . This plywood underlayment panel also has the “x” stencil pattern on the face for ease of installation. IronPly® goes through the same five point inspection process as the SurePly®, but is offered at a lower price point giving customers more options in the plywood underlayment marketplace.

Patriot Timber Products also offers a third plywood underlayment alternative, RevolutionPly®PATENT PENDING. This panel is an economically priced lauan substitute.RevolutionPly®, like SurePly® and IronPly® is a Green panel. You can use all three plywood underlayment panels with confidence knowing that they are manufactured without the use of tropical hardwoods and are manufactured using 100% plantation and sustainable wood sources.

How do I install Plywood Underlayment?

Patriot Timber Products is proud to announce the creation and launch of our SurePly® Installation Video, the latest addition to our SurePly® product support.  We also provide plywood underlayment installation guides for all three plywood underlayment panels, SurePly® Premium Underlayment, IronPly® Premium Underlayment, and RevolutionPly®. The step by step installation guides in PDF format for SurePly® Premium Underlayment and IronPly® Premium Underlayment can be found at www.SurePly.comand www.IronPly.com or by calling 1-877-787-3759. The step by step installation guide for RevolutionPly® can be obtained from your dealer or by calling 1-877-787-3759.

Call Us 336-299-7755 or Email Us for sales and technical information.

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