This flooring is "floated" in that it is not glued or nailed directly to the subfloor, but laid on an underlayment -- in our example, cork, although 1/8-inch foam is also used.

Cork and felt, once again, are two of the best underlayment materials to use for hardwood thermal protection. A cork underlayment works especially well as a thermal barrier (and has for centuries).

In our project, we show you how to install natural 12-in. unfinished cork tile over a sound plywood underlayment. This is just one of a wide variety of cork flooring products that are available.