Question from Patricia
Hi Debra,
We’re planning on covering our basement concrete floor with DriCore subflooring. We will seal the floor with an AFM/Safecoat urethane after installation. The subfloor will become the floor, as it will not be carpeted or tiled. The DriCore MSDS, link here www.dricore.com/en/pdf/msds.pdf, says it has has phenol formaldehyde resin in the core. I talked with the manufacturer, (www.DRIcore.com and phone 1-866-976-6374) who said the panels are sealed with a water-based acrylic sealant. I will have my husband do all cutting outside, to decrease any chemical dust in the basement.
My question…will the formaledhyde offgas? From the MSDS information do you see any potential problems?
This is the only option that I found that will work for the present situation with our basement floor, whioh has very old red concrete stain that “runs” when it gets wet and leaves a powdery dust on shoe soles. We haven’t been able to get it washed off in the 24 years we’ve lived here. Half the floor is also covered with old lineoleum tile squares over the red stain. I don’t know if there is asbestos in the tiles. The other half was painted over the stain, and the paint is now wearing off. The DriCore representative said Dricore can be installed over the top of the present floor as is….that’s a huge selling point for us. I want to be as sure as possible that I won’t have problems before making this costly purchase.
Thanks for all the work you do to help us improve our health, Debra.
Debra’s Answer
I can’t give you a definitive answer without seeing the product, but in general, the idea seems like a good solution for basements.
I was talking with a client on the phone a few weeks ago about needing to put a subfloor in her basement, and the contractor was going to build a subfloor much like this, with plywood and a sheet of polyethylene. This product came up as a possibility, which is an easier way to accomplish the same thing.
The hazards noted on the MSDS are exposure to wood dust and formaldehyde. I’m not concerned about the wood dust because that would not be a problem except during installation. The formaldehyde levels given are below the accepted levels for industrial exposures and which cause cancer. However, if you are very sensitive, and you are covering a large space, they could be too much for you.
These panels do have a finish on them, however, not all finishes block formaldehyde.
Before you invest in this, check with AFM to make sure that the product of their you are using will effectively block any formaldehyde. And I would suggest that you get one of the panels and live with it before you have them installed in your basement.
If you were going to put another flooring on top, this would be less of an issue. You could always put down a sheet of foil that would block the formaldehyde completely, and then lay another floor on top of that. Or, if you laid a ceramic tile floor on top of this subfloor, that would block the formaldehyde completely as well.
