Technical > Home Improvement > Subfloor comments and recommendations?

Subfloor comments and recommendations?

This thread gave me ideas for a subfloor.
»forums.redflagdeals.com/subfloor···-610572/
It's about basements, but since your pad is concrete, there is not much difference.

What I am doing is DeltaMS*, then 1.5" XPS foam boards, then 5/8 plywood (you can go 1" OSB) then my final floor. The XPS is to keep the floor from being too cold. It's optional and you're going with heated floor anyway.

*Normally for subfloor, they market the DeltaFL instead of DeltaMS, however the only difference between the two is that the FL is made of new plastic while MS is made of recycled plastic because it's made for wrappin the foundation walls from the outside. Otherwise they are identical and the deltaMS is much cheaper per square foot.

DeltaMS is pretty much the same as Platon but it has more PSI strenght than platon, however I doubt it matters much since platon is already 1000PSI and you'll have the OSB/Plywood on top to spread out the weight of heavy objects.

I saw the Delta stuff too, but don't know where to source it. Where did you buy yours?

Also, it's too late now, but I would have preferred some type of insulating foam as well. But we don't have enough floor to window clearance to add that at this point. The inspector was pretty adamant about that.

The Delta lines are pretty easy to get at big-box stores up here... Stock item at most Lowes Depot stores.

Only concern I'd have would be the heated underlay under wood... You'd need to ensure the wood mfg (and heating pad mfg) approve the application... Long as its a go from there end, should be game on.

As for insulation - the air space and osb provide minimal - about an R3 or so - better then nothing, but not by much.

reply to Goober
Well I live in Canada, so the stores where I could find it aren't in the states.

DeltaFL can be special ordered at lowes, product #132387
DeltMS can be found here in IL
»www.spycor.com/DELTA_MS_foundati···dlms.htm

reply to LazMan
Thanks. Yeah, I did check on the heated underlayment. Thermosoft is okay. Nuheat is not--it may "scorch the wood".

In Illinois the Delta stuff is special order. Makes it more difficult than stopping by at the nearest Menards and picking up a roll or two.

I'm going to have to check the floor-window clearance again to see where we end up. I'd like to get the additional insulation in.
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How nice. This country is being run by a broken record repeating the same two words over and over. Cretin.

reply to Goober
Any comments on Dricore? By the time I buy the Platon and top it with T&G OSB, the cost is only about $40 (16%) higher for the Dricore.
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How nice. This country is being run by a broken record repeating the same two words over and over. Cretin.

Dricore is for the weekend warriors who don't know how to drill tapcons or work with 4x8s.
I've read about people feeling that dricore panels feel sometimes loose. Plus water/humidity from the concrete can get up the joints of the dricore tiles and rott the OSB part of the dricore. With platon, it's nice and tight, no gaps no cracks.

It's up to you for the effort vs. quality.

reply to ropeguru

Platon subfloor instructions here:

»www.certainteed.com/resources/Pl···-04C.pdf

DeltaFL instructions are better though. Thanks for the link.
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How nice. This country is being run by a broken record repeating the same two words over and over. Cretin.

Yeah Platon's subfloor instruction is a joke.
Then again that's because Platon isn't really marketed towards being a subfloor while DeltaFL is its raison d'être.

reply to Goober
Interesting. That is certainly not manufacturer produced instructions. I talked to the manufacturer directly and they absolutely would not give and advice or help in using it as a barrier between concrete and a sub floor. They were firm on having to use the Delta FL.

So the Platon people were firm about using Delta? BTW, I'm pretty sure you didn't talk to the manufacturer. Or if you did, it was some clueless person.

From the manufacturer's website:

»www.armtec.com/en-ca/products-an···ing.aspx

"Platon Flooring Protector isolates flooring from cold, damp concrete. When used beneath a wooden sub-floor and over concrete in a basement, it makes floors comfortable, odour free, healthy and dry."

Flooring installation instructions (which are worse than Certainteed's) by the manufacturer: »files.armtec.com/Downloads/Categ···11-E.pdf

Gats... I still need more coffee.. My brain was thinking Delta FL vs. Platon and not what it should have of Delta FL vs. Delta MS which people here have said they used.

reply to ropeguru

I'm sure they'll come up with some "scientific" reason to push people towards FL.

Of course they will. Something like it may give off obnoxious odors which would not be an issue out doors but would be as a subfloor.

Delta MS VS. Delta FL
I broke down the relevant parts (excluded dimensions).

I put a red box at the superior factors of FL.
Basically, it is ever so slightly more permeable for water vapors (20 ng vs 22 ng, whatever that means) and isn't smelly or allergenic!!

Yeah.. no I'm not going to pay double for DeltaFL.
That stuff is under a layer of XPS and a layer of plywood. If I get allergic or smell something from it, then it's pretty nasty.
However the roll has been sitting in my basement for a couple of months now and really I smell nothing (I sniffed it up close too!).