Many people think that simply rolling out a layer of mass loaded vinyl onto the subfloor and then installing your carpet and pad will protect the neighbors downstairs from hearing the impact (footfall noise) coming from the unit above. Unfortunately this is not the case. MLV needs to maintain a dead air space between the sub floor and the the vinyl itself in order to resonate with the sounds thus canceling it out. The MLV's ability to resonate will give you the STC numbers you desire and it will work to it's full potential. We have discovered that it is better to use a carpet underlay that does not need to resonate in order to give you maximum soundproofing.

The only exception is marble flooring. There are other soundproofing underlay's specifically designed for marble and are available through this website: www.soundproofingamerica.com There is also an economical alternative to the more costly Impact Pro and Impact Standard which is simply called "Impactless". It does not offer the same impact protection that you'd get from Impact Pro and Impact Standard, but for the budget minded it is a very realistic alternative and is much less costly to purchase and to ship. We have gotten some good feedback on all of these products.