Cork Underlayment

[Logit883]

Our hardwood floors were installed about three years go. They out a layer of cork down to help out with sound insulation. However, I'm pretty sure they nailed down the hardwood. My understanding is that likely negated the effect of the cork on sound prevention by as much as 50%

However, what I'm concerned about is that I recently read that nailing down on cork underlayment may cause the cork to crumble. How likely is that? If so, what types of things should I look out for? I don't feel soft spots in the floor. I assume at this point there is really nothing that we could do anyway. But it made me rather paranoid.

 

[highup]

I'm not a wood flooring guy, but the cork won't crumble or decompose in any way, so don't worry about it at all. There will never be any soft spots to worry about either. Cork is very stable.
I'm not familiar about cork as an underlayment for nailed down flooring, so I can't comment much on that. If the 50% is true, then that's a lot better than no sound absorbtion.
What is the actual product? Is it solid 3/4 inch flooring or an engineered product?
If after 3 years it's not causing any problems, I'd say you don't have much to worry about.

 

[Turner]

Our hardwood floors were installed about three years go. They out a layer of cork down to help out with sound insulation. However, I'm pretty sure they nailed down the hardwood. My understanding is that likely negated the effect of the cork on sound prevention by as much as 50%

However, what I'm concerned about is that I recently read that nailing down on cork underlayment may cause the cork to crumble. How likely is that? If so, what types of things should I look out for? I don't feel soft spots in the floor. I assume at this point there is really nothing that we could do anyway. But it made me rather paranoid.

Our hardwood floors were installed about three years go. They out a layer of cork down to help out with sound insulation. However, I'm pretty sure they nailed down the hardwood. My understanding is that likely negated the effect of the cork on sound prevention by as much as 50%

However, what I'm concerned about is that I recently read that nailing down on cork underlayment may cause the cork to crumble. How likely is that? If so, what types of things should I look out for? I don't feel soft spots in the floor. I assume at this point there is really nothing that we could do anyway. But it made me rather paranoid.

My husband is considering this method (cork underlayment with nailed engineered hardwood), despite the 50% sound barrier loss and potential for crumbling. Have you identified any issues since your initial post? We have read a handful of warnings, but haven’t found any evidence of this actually becoming a problem over time.