Question from danac

My wife has MCS and has not been living inside for several months. We would like to upgrade our floors – remove carpet and particleboard – to make the house less toxic for her. We plan on hardybacker over 3/4 inch plywood and over 2″ tongue and groove with tile on top with associated normal thinset compounds and grout for several rooms.

We would also like to put prefinished solid hardwood in the living room and hallway. For these floors, we will need to remove the particleboard. Need suggestions for subfloor materials to replace the particleboard over the 2″ subfloor. We want to lay the hardwood the same direction as the 2″ subfloor so a layer over the subfloor is needed. Plywood would be the normal option but we are concerned about the VOC’s from the glues.

Any comments about material choices would be appreciated.

Hi Debra! We will remove the carpet and put solid wood on the second floor of our house.. The contractor is insisting we should also put an underlayment otherwise mold and mildew will be developed. He is insisting because part of our second floor is over the garage and the water heater. I’ve searched high and low and no underlayment seems non toxic to me. I am thinking Insulayment by MP Products but it has an antimicrobial additive called Aegis Microbe Shield. I am thinking of putting nothing but my husband is scared that we will have mold eventually and the health will be worse without an insulayment. Thank you in advance.

Debra’s Answer

We have in the past laid plywood down as a subfloor and then laid other flooring over it and it was fine. But I don’t want to assume that would be fine for your wife with MCS.

Readers, any suggestions?

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