ᐅ Installing solid vinyl flooring over vinyl adhesive flooring – is impact sound insulation necessary?

Hello everyone,

I recently bought a house built in 2016, where glued vinyl flooring has been installed in the basement. I would like to replace it with a different vinyl floor and am wondering if I can simply lay a 4.5 mm (0.18 inch) thick solid vinyl on top.

There is underfloor heating installed.

What should I consider?
Do I need to add impact sound insulation underneath?
Will the thermal resistance become too high?

I contacted a vinyl supplier who recommended installing at least a vapor barrier underneath, but I got the impression the salesperson was somewhat unsure.

Or would it be better to remove the glued vinyl altogether? I would prefer to avoid the extra work.

I couldn’t find any information on this topic online.

Icke79 schrieb:
I bought a house built in 2016 where glued vinyl flooring is installed in the basement. Since I would like to install a different vinyl, my question is whether I can simply lay a 4.5 mm (0.18 inch) solid vinyl over it.
There is underfloor heating.

What do I need to consider?
Do I need an additional impact sound insulation layer underneath?

There is no impact sound insulation under the glued vinyl.

Yes, you need impact sound insulation. The total installation height will then be at least 6 mm (0.24 inch). Will this still fit with doors, doormats at the entrance, etc.? A vapor barrier is not necessary, because the floor is already sealed.

Note: I am not an expert.

Icke79 schrieb:
Will the thermal resistance become too high?

How high is too high?
If you pay attention to low thermal resistance for both the new covering and the impact sound insulation, it should generally work. The value will still be better than with laminate flooring, but naturally it will be somewhat worse.

Thermal resistance before: <0.02
After: 0.045 (0.02 + 0.02 + 0.004) in the absolute best case including impact sound insulation. Depending on the covering, it could also be significantly higher.

A thermal resistance of up to 0.15 is generally considered acceptable for underfloor heating. I don’t know who defined the 0.15 limit.

In the worst case, you might need to increase the heating supply temperature to achieve sufficient warmth. This reduces efficiency, especially with heat pumps. You might also have to raise the floor temperature beyond the manufacturer’s specifications.