I'm going to be upgrading my 2nd floor with Pergo (glueless type), and I was wondering if this type of flooring would make people walking around the 2nd floor more noticeable vs. say carpet? I heard you can get nice bottom layers, but I don't know how sound proofing that is. Any feedback would be appreciated!

 

I don't have it but right now I am at the same stage you are. I'm going to do my downstairs and this topic has come up. In the case of hardwood floors you'd use a sound detaining material in between the hardwood and the subfloor. Interesting is I always thought Pergo was just a glue type laminate, but I guess there are other types. All hard floors have a higher sound level than say a carpet but Pergo has some options. If you choose a Pergo Original floor with SoundBloc, a built-in sound absorber, the drum sound (clicking sound in the room when walking over floor) will decrease. You can also choose a loose sound absorbing underlay to reduce the sound level. So very similar to natural hardwood floors. So I guess it comes down to the subfloor and how quiet that is more so than the floor you are installing. I'd recommend talking to installers or who you plan to go with and ask about options for sound-insulation material, more so on a 2nd level floor. I know friends that have it, of course on a 1st level and the sound is no issue.

 

You have to pay attention to the type of underlayment that you use. Look for one with a high sound deadening capability. What kind of footwear is everyone wearing on the second floor? Usually slippers or just socks. Most typical newer houses the the flooring isn't going to be all that much louder, it depends more on how heavily the people walk. When I lived in an apartment I had a family that lived above me and everything was carpeted but when the big guy (6'6" 300#) walked around you couldn't hear him, but when his petite wife (5'4" little over 100#) walked around it was like an elephant stomping around, go figure.

 

Second floor would be all slippers, no shoes. Asians tend to remove their shoes at the entrance anyway

I'll check out the different types of this undermat/layer thing.