Dri-Core / Delta-FL subfloor - Page 2

Just a quick question.

I have read that you can attach your walls directly to the Dricore. I was wondering this: If you attach your walls to the concrete and then lay Dricore with the 1/4" gap, would that allow some sound isolation (i.e. vibration) from the rest of the house? The gap created would be covered with baseboard for asthetic purposes.

Thanks for any reply.

I believe this is a bad move. the slightest movement of the dricore panels will cause cracks to appear anywhere between the tiles. the dricore panels are supposed to be allowed to expand a bit and retract a bit (it will happen when the temperature and humidity rate fluctuates, I have observed it many times in my basement). no glue or cement will keep the panels from doing so...

I was wondering the same thing. I would think that the sound isolation would be better with the 1/4" gaps rather than having the subfloor extend into the next room. It's probably just a bit easier to install if you do it before the walls are up - less cutting and waste.

I'm planning on installing the dricore after the walls are up, but before driwalling - so I'll leave a larger gap.

Dricore recommends that if you do the walls first, to then do the drywall before placing dricore down. Reason being that you might not be able to suck up all the compound dust from the gap and this could cause an issue with moisture/mold.

Makes sense. Thanks

For those interested, here are some pictures of my Dri-Core install in my Home Theater:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...04#post7445404

Dave

Dave -

Thanks for the tutorial pictures. Looks great.

Seems like your floor was a little uneven that you needed to sue the leveling spacers. Do you have any noise problems when walking on the floor, eg: clanking where the floor is still a bit uneven, squeaking from the T&G, etc ?

Brent

Hi Brent, Yes, I do have a few squeaks but considering it's the Home Theater and you can only hear the squeaks when the room is silent, its not a big deal. I'm really glad I went with a raised floor in there. I can heat that room quickly and it stays nice and warm even when the rest of the basement is 59 degrees this time of year if I have the vents closed.

Dave

I just installed DriCore this weekend. Well almost all of it. I under est what I needed. So I need to go pick up another 10 tiles. I do have the carpet laid on it. But no padding yet.

When I walk on it I can hear it squeak just a little. But I have a feeling when the carpet is attatched with padding underneath. It will be nice and quiet.

The sound is noticible better then the concrete that i have had for the past few years.

And even tho we are going thru a storm now and it is really cold. I don't need to have my space heater on. It is nice and toasty as is.

Arialis -

Give the Dricore a little time to settle in. I had a few places that made some noise when walked on (of course, the FIRST place the wife stepped made noise!). Now there are only one two places, and I'll ramset those before covering.

Good luck,
Tom

Just trim up the bottom of the door a bit.

I did Delta FL about 1 year ago in my basement. My walls and doorways were already in so I bought an undercut saw and trimmed my doorways. You can pick up a manual one for about $15 from HD or you can rent a power version if you have many doorways. Then you trim a bit off the door to clear your finished floor height. It was about 1" in my case and was not a problem at all. This is much less work than reframing the whole doorway. Also, yes you want to leave about a 1/4" gap at the walls. This will all be covered with trim. My installation has seen 90deg+, high humidity summer days as well as single digit winter nights and so far all is well. I have minimal creaking or noises and really not much expansion or contraction (I'd estimate 1/16"). However, I did install 23 Tapcon screws per 4x8 sheet of Advantech I laid on top of the Delta FL. Also, I know most people on this forum do carpet for audio reasons, however, I stapled down a 3/8" thick engineered hardwood. It is not as good for acoustics, but it is absolutely beautiful. Regardless, these subfloor systems, when installed properly, are excellent and well worth the time and cost to install. You also get an R3 value with these systems and your floors will be much warmer than bare concrete.

I want to install Delta FL this coming week. Its for a home I just bought. The subfloor is already sone, but the guy put 2x4s standing up and then a 3/4 plywood, so my subfloor is almost 4 1/4". I figure with Delta-FL, I will gain at least 3 " in height.

Now being from Canada, price for a roll here is $236 for 328sq feet. It sounds like its much cheaper in the US. Who seels it? maybe I can take a little drive and pick some up. I have 1300 sq feet to do.

Also, would any of you recommend using the same plywood? Its like new, but only problem is that its not tpngue and groove and obviously has screw holes in it. Did you guys nail down your plywood over the delta FL?

Here in the states Lowe's sell it special order. I paid about $0.50 a sq. ft. for it.

I didn't put plywood over the top of it, as I was installing laminate flooring, which didn't require it.

engineered wood floors are durable and cheaper than solid floorings

I only had one doorway to deal with - I ended up trimming the bottom of it but that was just to go over the carpeting outside of my theater room. Unfortunately I didn't know about Dricore before I finished the rest of my basement so the carpet is installed right on top of the concrete in the room that is connected to my theater room. This caused about a 1" variation in height that I had to deal with.

I built my theater room with double walls so my doorway is extra wide. I ran the Dricore in my theater room right up to where the first door jam started on the inside of the theater room. I then cut a 1" by 10" board so it would fit between the door jams and tapered it from the top of the Dricore to the concrete. My carpet installers are coming this Friday to install so hopefully that will work out for them.


Image 1. Tapered board transitioning Dricore to concrete


Image 2. Tapered board between door jams

I am planning to do the same think using Delta FL and engineer laminate floor to save height in the basement. Just curious if your floor feel warmer now with the Delta installed?
My basement concrete floor is just covered with cheap carpet with foam backing (may be 1/8" type) and it's cold even in summer. If I install Delta FL, do you think I should take out the cheapo carpet or leave it and install Delta on top of the carpet? The carpet is still in good shape though. Any comment is appreciated.

hhhhmmmmmm.

I stagger the tiles when I did my floor. If you plan on doing so than placement of last tile is the key. Also before you put your last tile in, walk around the floor for a last minute fix. A rubber mallet is useful in tapping the panels together use a scrap piece of Dricore when tapping. A rug and paddling has been place down over the floor for more than a year now no problems plus looks and feels great, lets not forget it also helps with the sound.

I also give a thumbs up to drycore.
I put it in our theater/game roome area. I also put it in the "snack bar" area and installed tile over it. Before you all gasp.... All you do is anchor the drycore tiles to the concrete floor with 5 tapcons per panel, believe me, the tiles will not go anywhere. Then I laid a layer of Hardibacker cement boad set in thin set over the Drycore and screwed it down to the drycore while the thin set was still wet. Let that dry and install the tile. Been down 18 months and no cracks and solid as a rock. I have a full size refrigerator that has been rolled over the tiles, no problems.

I don't have Delta Fl, but I think you would want to take the carpet out, if you left the carpet in any moisture that might get in would be soaked up by the carpet, and that would defeat the purpose of the Delta Fl...hopefully someone with experience will be able to tell you for sure.

Well, the basement was uinfinished with bare concrete prevously, so I didn't have a previous point of comparison.

That having been said, the laminate floor feels jus tlike other laminate floors I've been on in wood-framed rooms. That is the Delta-FL seems to be doing a good job insulating the cold concrete.

I'm not so sure I'd want carpet under it. That might cause issues particularly with moisture.

What about placing a riser on top of Delta-FL and plywood? Will the added weight of the riser cause the Delta-FL dimples to collapse? Since they recommend framing walls on top of Delta-FL and plywood/OSB I would think a riser should be okay as well. But I would appreciate feedback.

Their product literature has the compression strength ratings, I believe. I suspect that a riser would be fine, in that the framing would spread out the load just as much as the feet of the furniture would (if not more). Additionally, you typically have a flooring surface over the top (plywood, wooden flooring, etc...) as well.

For those who built walls on top of dricore, how much sound / bass energy was transmitted through the floor? I'm planning on building a double wall between the theater and the family room, and I'm worried that the dri-core may act as an acoustic couple between the floor in the theater and the rest of the house.

Should I stop the dri-core where the wall is going to be, and pick it up later, so that the two are not coupled? Would it make sense to just put a 1/4" gap in there so that the two are not?

My thought is to not worry about it, and that mass of two stud / drywall walls plus a door probably would absorb most bass energy to make it a bit of a moot point, but I"m hoping someone here has real-world experience.

I built a family room out of an attached garage, used dricore under engineered hardwood. Seems to work great, but I didn't put any venting in. Should I?

Not sure if it is in my head, but getting a bit itchy legs while sitting in this room (had alot of rain this year too). Hope its not a mould issue (haven't seen any..)
thanks.

If you feel the need you can cut vent holes every so many feet and then place a vent grill to allow for greater ait circulation. I believe the dricore website discusses this in the installation notes or the f.a.q.s'

My only concern is that as the concrete slab may emit a musty smell that would be released into the room if vented inside. I'm thinking i should have sealed the floor first, then did the dricore.

If I try to vent to outside, it will either cool the floor (in winter), or lose heat if air pulled from inside.
Also have the option of pushing heat from the furnace through, and vent to inside (possible problem of smell again).

everyone seems to prefer the dricore. it seems to be an easier install.

my question is that if im going to build a front stage of about 3x17,with a curved front, filled with sand, would it be easier just to place the dricore under the stage instead of trying to cut the dricore to the curved shape of the stage?

is there any disadvantage to this? will the weight of the stage/sand affect the dricore?