What does the manufacturer information say about installing. I don't know but usually a lot of information comes with product or can get information about product online from their websites.

If you install a glue-down floor over the GenieMat, you need to use glue. Floating floors can be installed over it also.

If your building specifies A product it's best to go with that product. There are others (SuperSam, Proflex, WhisperMat) that are similar. If you use one and have a complaint, it could be a big hassle. If you follow the letter of their recommendations you need not worry about this. Buildings generally specify sound underlayment under all hard surface floors.

Excellent advice from Johnson Flooring. The material that a building specifies for acoustic ratings should be used. The reason: it has ALREADY passed the "sniff test". No need to try to reinvent the wheel. If the building has experience working with the material AND have found that the noise complaints are reduced, then you really should use the product.

And yes, you need to use it under EVERY INCH of product you want to install. It is part and parcel of your ownership of the unit and your duty to your neighbors.

If you want to do ALL the leg work to find something comparable, you are welcome to do so. It should take several months...with no guarantee of success. How do I know? I used to sell cork underlament to people in your situation. I was part of the months-long process that homeowners had to go through to get cork underlayment (6mm or 12mm) into their condos. If you want to go this route, here are the specifications that you MUST MATCH (or exceed):

http://pliteq.com/downloads/geniemat-rst/Pliteq%20GenieMat%20RST10%20Product%20Spec%20Guide.pdf

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. There are very few products on the market that set out their product's acoustic ratings in a manner such as this. You will be cutting and pasting documentation for the next few months, if you want to use anything different.

The place to look for another option would be 12mm cork. The GenieMat RST-10 is a 10mm thick rubber underlayment. The ONLY thing that gives the same amount of noise reduction would be cork. But cork needs a LITTLE bit more thickness than rubber to achieve the same amount of noise reduction. That means a 10mm rubber product will be equal to a 12mm cork product (roughly speaking).

But again, there are very few products out there that can offer the same detail for their products on a single, easy to read sheet as the GenieMat document. Even with all my experience selling cork, I would find it tedious to do all the cutting and pasting to recreate such a document. The GenieMat uses the newest sound rating documentation stated as an HIIC rating. This is SOOOOOO rare you would be hard pressed to find any comparable product with the same values attached.

H - High Frequency. This is a new category for sound ratings.

https://www.astm.org/DATABASE.CART/WORKITEMS/WK59631.htm

Cork and rubber are the only two products that deal with the HIGH frequency stuff (like a phone ringing...TV noise...human vocal range....fingernails on black board....jack hammer....etc). Just so you know.

I am asthmatic so I would go out of my way to try to work with cork....but rubber will do the job with less material (and MUCH more cost). Good luck.

And the phone number for head office is in Ontario...North York to be precise. This is a N. American company.

Wow, thanks for all the advice. This is extremely helpful! I've spent days to find similar products but no success, and base on your comments I think i will stick with the building's specified products, less hassle. But thanks again for the great advice.