Is It Just Me or Do Underlayments Never Last as Long as Promised?

Had mine installed by the book too, but still started noticing issues after just a few years. Honestly think humidity might be the sneaky culprit here... or maybe these things just aren't built to last like they claim.

"Honestly think humidity might be the sneaky culprit here... or maybe these things just aren't built to last like they claim."

Yeah, humidity can seriously mess things up - I learned that the hard way. A few years ago, we redid our floors and went with a mid-range underlayment. Followed every instruction, crossed every T, dotted every I... thought we were golden. Fast forward about three summers of brutal humidity later, and suddenly the floor felt weirdly squishy in spots. Turns out moisture had slowly crept in and wrecked it from underneath. The guy at the store acted all surprised, but I'm convinced the warranties they slap onto these products are mostly marketing fluff - they know most people won't chase it down after a few years anyway. Hang in there though; you're definitely not alone in this frustration.

Had a similar experience myself, but weirdly enough, humidity wasn't even the main issue. We installed a supposedly "premium" underlayment in our basement - sales guy swore up and down it was moisture-proof and would last decades. Well, about four years in, we started noticing this odd crunching sound when walking over certain spots. Pulled up a section and found the underlayment had basically disintegrated into crumbly bits. No obvious moisture, no leaks, nothing. Just seemed like the material itself broke down over time.

Makes me wonder if some of these products just degrade naturally, regardless of humidity or installation quality. Maybe they're banking on people moving or renovating again before the warranty ever comes into play. Has anyone else had their underlayment fail without obvious moisture issues? Curious if it's just bad luck or a common thing...

"Makes me wonder if some of these products just degrade naturally, regardless of humidity or installation quality."

Could be, but honestly I've seen plenty of underlayments last decades without issues. Sometimes it's just a bad batch or manufacturing flaw... frustrating, but not always indicative of the product line itself.

I've inspected plenty of homes where the underlayment held up fine for years, even in less-than-ideal conditions. Could it be a storage issue before installation, or maybe exposure to sunlight during installation...? Sometimes it's just bad luck, honestly.