Underlay – the best way to insulate an open-plan space
Open-plan living has become increasingly popular over the last few years. In fact, it’s one of the main things that people now look for when buying a property – and it’s easy to understand why.
There’s a lot to love about this modern interior layout.
First and foremost, it facilitates family life. Separate rooms (typically, the kitchen and lounge) are brought together into one multi-functional space, making it much easier to live and spend quality time together. It also creates the ideal area for entertaining and socialising with guests, and can make your home feel significantly bigger, brighter and less cramped.
There’s just one drawback.
Due to their size, open-plan kitchen living rooms are tricky to insulate. They can be difficult to keep warm during the autumn-winter months, potentially leading to an increase in energy bills. And with lots of activities happening in the same space, they can be pretty noisy.
But here at Carpet Underlay Shop, we believe there’s a simple solution…
Underlay is the perfect way to enjoy all the benefits of an open-plan design, whilst also eliminating these disadvantages – and here we explore how.
Insulating an open-plan space with underlay
Underlay is specifically designed to improve insulation in your home.
By adding an extra layer between the flooring and subfloor, it greatly reduces the amount of heat that can escape from the room – and as such, helps to maintain a comfortable temperature at all times. It also improves acoustic insulation, significantly lowering impact and airborne noises, both in the room itself and the room below.
These features can prove particularly useful in an open-plan space.
Whether you’re looking to install carpet, hardwood, or laminate, a high-quality underlay is usually all it takes to tackle the drawbacks highlighted above – allowing you to enjoy the perks of open-plan living, without struggling to keep warm or being faced with hefty heating bills.
Which underlay do I need to buy for my open-plan design?
Essentially, this depends on the type of flooring you wish to install:
Carpet
For carpeted open-plan spaces, we typically recommend Plushwalk 12mm.
This is regarded as the ‘gold standard’, having dominated the market for several years now. Made from thick ‘bounce back’ memory foam, it boasts a super-cosy 3.5 TOG rating and can reduce impact and airborne noises by approximately 49dB. What’s more, available for just £6.99 per m2, it’s an affordable option – that can be used to cover a large area, without breaking the bank.
Laminate and hardwood
If you’d like to fit new laminate or hardwood in your open-plan kitchen living room, our advice is to go for the Royale 7mm Professional Sonic Gold Underlay.
This is one of the very best laminate underlays currently on the market. Made from a unique foam structure – called AeroFoam – it demonstrates impressive qualities, including an insulative gold-foil backing and 1.0 TOG rating. It’s also capable of reducing noise by approximately 37dB. Available for just £6.20 per m2, it offers an economical yet effective way to insulate an open-plan space.
Luxury vinyl tiles (LVT)
Just like open-plan living, LVT is incredibly on-trend right now – and if you wish to combine the two, we recommend opting for LVT Acoustic Underlay by Royale.
Made from toughened foam, this boasts a range of features that are particularly useful for an open-plan design. For example, it has a high-density construction, which can reduce noise levels by approximately 20dB. It has a silver foil backing, which significantly improves thermal insulation. It’s also very quick and easy to install, making it a convenient option for covering a large area.
Priced at just £3.60 per m2, Royale LVT Underlay is a cost-effective way to improve the look and feel of your LVT and will successfully insulate your open-plan space.
Ready to embrace open-plan living?
If so, underlay is an essential purchase for your renovation project – and, whatever type of flooring you wish to install, we have the perfect product to match.
Here at Carpet Underlay Shop, all of our underlays are priced competitively and available for both standard and next day delivery. So why not browse our full online collection? Find the ideal type for your flooring and make sure your open-plan layout is as insulated as possible.
If you have any questions about our products, or would like further advice on the best underlay for your open-plan kitchen living room, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Our team is always on hand and happy to assist with your enquiries. Simply call us on 0203 887 0994 or send an email to sales@carpet-underlay-shop.co.uk and we’ll get back to you.
- Alex Illidge
