WE Cork’s industry-leading WECU cork underlayment portfolio has expanded over time to include products tailored for specific scenarios. Having options is good, but selecting can be a little tricky. This article compares underlayments, and helps clarify which one will work best for each application.
About WE Cork Underlayment (WECU)
WECU (pronounced “we see you”) is WE Cork’s cork underlayment portfolio. In addition to being an acoustic underlayment providing superior sound control, the variety of WECU products also offer thermal insulation, crack isolation, and comfort underfoot in places like homes, condos and offices, to name a few. WECU is especially useful when opting for flooring other than cork, as it delivers all the natural benefits of cork not inherent in other materials.
Highest Density on the Market
Engineered for full commercial or residential use, a special preservative is blended with the WECU cork and binder mixture to make the underlayments impenetrable to moisture and highly protected against acid from concrete. The density created by this process (see 3 Part Spec) provides both effective sound control and crack protection. In fact, WECU has the highest density cork underlayment on the market.
Most Reliable Cork Underlayment
WECU has stood the test of time. Originally introduced back in the late 70’s, we are proud of its flawless track record after 100+ million square feet of failure free installations. It boasts the highest laboratory tested IIC sound rating results available (without a suspended ceiling).
WECU is also the only cork underlayment on the market which meets two essential requirements for use under ceramic tile or marble: A Compression Ratio sufficient to avert cracking of ceramic tile and grout (see 3 Part Spec) and a resistance to moisture that prevents deterioration.
WECU Portfolio Overview
To provide a high level overview, a basic description of each WECU product is provided below:
| Material | Product | Composition | Description |
| Soundless / Soundless+ | Cork | Delivers sound control for buildings with a suspended ceiling under ceramic tile and stone, and non suspended ceilings under hardwood and laminate. |
| Warm & Quiet / Warm & Quiet+ | Cork | Offers thermal insulation and sound control for laminate and engineered wood floors. |
| Crackless+ | Cork & Rubber* | Provides superior stress crack isolation for ceramic tile and stone. |
| Silently-LVT | Cork & Rubber | Adds resilience and comfort to LVT and Linoleum flooring. |
| Silently+ | Cork & Rubber* | Two-in-one product offering both sound control and a vapor barrier under floating floors. |
* Crackless+ and Silently+ utilize recycled rubber.
Good, Better, and Best WECU Options
All WECU options are high quality, but each are designed to serve specific purposes. For example, our Soundless underlayments have a much higher density than our Warm & Quiet. Soundless products also feature a resin binder that makes them impervious to moisture. For these reasons, we recommend Soundless for ceramic and stone installations.
Whereas the lower density of Warm & Quiet underlayments are not suited for ceramic and stone, they’re ideal under hardwood and floating floors. Although Soundless can also be used under hardwood, we recommend Warm & Quiet for that application.
To help navigate which underlayment to pair with different floor types for certain purposes, we’ve created the chart below showing good, better, and best choices:
| SOUND CONTROL RECOMMENDATIONS | ||||||
| Ceramic Tile & Stone | Hardwood | Laminate | LVT (glue-down) | LVT & Linoleum (floating) | Carpet | |
| Best | Soundless+ (1/2” sheets) |
Warm & Quiet (1/2” sheets) |
Warm & Quiet (1/2” sheets) |
Silently-LVT (2mm rolls) |
Warm & Quiet (1/2” sheets) |
Warm & Quiet (1/2” sheets) |
| Better | Soundless (6mm sheets/rolls) |
Warm & Quiet+ (6mm sheets/rolls) |
Warm & Quiet+ (6mm sheets/rolls) |
Warm & Quiet+ (6mm sheets/rolls) |
Warm & Quiet+ (6mm sheets/rolls) |
|
| Good | Crackless+ (3/64” rolls) |
Warm & Quiet (3mm rolls) |
Warm & Quiet (3mm rolls) |
Warm & Quiet (3mm rolls) |
Warm & Quiet (3mm rolls) |
|
| THERMAL INSULATION RECOMMENDATIONS | ||||||
| Ceramic Tile & Stone | Hardwood | Laminate | LVT (glue-down) | LVT & Linoleum (floating) | Carpet | |
| Best | Soundless+ (1/2” sheets) | Warm & Quiet (1/2” sheets) | Warm & Quiet (1/2” sheets) | NA | Warm & Quiet (1/2” sheets) |
Warm & Quiet (1/2” sheets) |
| Better | Soundless (6mm sheets/rolls) | Warm & Quiet+ (6mm sheets/rolls) | Warm & Quiet+ (6mm sheets/rolls) | Warm & Quiet+ (6mm sheets/rolls) |
Warm & Quiet+ (6mm sheets/rolls) | |
| Good | Crackless+ (3/64” rolls) | Warm & Quiet (3mm rolls) | Warm & Quiet (3mm rolls) | Warm & Quiet (3mm rolls) |
Warm & Quiet (3mm rolls) | |
| CRACK ISOLATION RECOMMENDATIONS | ||||||
| Ceramic Tile & Stone | ||||||
| Best | Soundless+ (1/2” sheets) | |||||
Better |
Soundless (6mm sheets/rolls) | |||||
| Good | Crackless+ (3/64” rolls) | |||||
It’s worth mentioning that our cork floating floors already come with cork underlayment attached. If additional sound control or thermal insulation is desired, cork underlayment can be added.
Underlayment with Vapor Barrier Included?
One final consideration not listed in the chart above is the Silently+ 2mm roll. As the only WECU underlayment that includes a vapor barrier, this is ideal for hardwood or laminate installations where this is required.
Technical Information for WECU
We’ve built out an entire section of our web site to go more in depth with WE Cork Underlayment. Topics here include:
Additionally, a variety of WECU downloads are available (see bottom of downloads page). These include specs, material safety data sheets, installation instructions, and our WECU brochure.
Need Cork Underlayment Samples?
This was the second article in a 2 part series. In case you missed the first one, read the Choosing the Best Cork Flooring article now.
As for choosing your cork underlayment: We hope that this article and the linked resources have answered all your questions. However, feel free to enter any additional questions into the comments below. As a next step, we suggest ordering your Underlayment Sample Kit to get your hands on the material!
