# Foam Under Click Together Flooring In Basement?



## velvetfoot (Nov 17, 2013)

I was looking at the 100% waterproof, ie, 100% synthetic click together strip wood-look flooring by Allure.  It'd be nice to get some insulation under this floating floor.  I wonder if the Allure would play nice with the foam?  It's pretty darn flexible, but maybe the joints would be a problem.  Maybe not.  I could always buy a box and test it out I suppose.


----------



## Retired Guy (Nov 17, 2013)

The foam would need to be quite thick to gain much R value but _might_ give a bit of thermal break. I really like the Allure Ultra product.


----------



## velvetfoot (Nov 17, 2013)

Yes, it was the Allure Ultra product I was looking at.  It was a dollar more a ft2 than the TrafficMaster synthetic product that was on sale, but it was thicker, for one.  I was thinking of an inch of foam.


----------



## EatenByLimestone (Nov 17, 2013)

I just installed the stick together Allure in a friend's house.  That stuff was really sensitive to fit together on an uneven kitchen floor.  It made a nice looking finished product though.


----------



## Frozen Canuck (Nov 18, 2013)

No problem laying this on high density foam whatsoever. Your warmer feet will thank you.


----------



## velvetfoot (Nov 19, 2013)

Where does one get high density foam?


----------



## Frozen Canuck (Nov 19, 2013)

Standard Dow blue board should be just fine. Avoid bead board (low density).


----------



## kingquad (Nov 19, 2013)

owens-corning pink board will work too.


----------



## velvetfoot (Nov 19, 2013)

Ok, thanks.


----------



## kingquad (Nov 19, 2013)

I'd also think about using some sort of subfloor material on top of it.  It has pretty good compressive strength, but it can get dents and dings in it.


----------



## midwestcoast (Nov 19, 2013)

Frozen Canuck said:


> Standard Dow blue board should be just fine. Avoid bead board (low density).


Or Owens Corning "Foamular 250".  Basically make sure you use XPS not EPS (you can see the beads in EPS like a coffee cup) and for more compressive strength use high density XPS.
Or you could always put tongue & groove OSB over the foam. I did that in a slab-on-grade sunroom under laminate click-together & it worked fine.  In a basement you might not want to lose another 1/2-3/4" of head room for OSB, but the cost wouldn't be a huge deal.


----------



## semipro (Nov 20, 2013)

Yep.  XPS foam board will work great without any subfloor above it. 
I did 1" of foam below a laminate floor about 6 years ago and its held up perfectly even with heavy dogs and furniture on it. 
What you're talking about doing is what I plan to do in my basement.


----------

