Experience Harvey Chichester is a well published principal of Durall Industrial Flooring, a company with more than 40 years experience in developing special flow-coatings for industrial and residential floors. Automotive and shopping centers, breweries, food processing plants, manufacturing plants, airplane hangars, car washes, kennels, warehouses, printing plants, residential basements, pool decks, and condominiums are among some of the facilities in which he has installed floors. http://www.concrete-floor-coatings.com
During that time, his team of chemists has produced continual improvements to over 500 products, including the acclaimed Dura Seal and Dura Poxy lines of epoxy floor coatings. He has managed installations in all 50 states, 5 Canadian provinces, and 7 countries.
Organizations Durall Industrial Flooring
Publications Aricles appear in over 3500 locations on the web.
Education/Credentials MBA Marketing, BSB Finance minor Management, BA Economics minor Sociology, 7 years working beside Bench chemists at Durall Industrial Flooring.
Past/Present Clients Iowa Beef, Pillsbury, General Mills, Banta Printing, 3M, Control Data, UFE, Land O Lakes, Thousands of residential garages, warehouses, machine shops, and automotive centers
Question Hi Harvey,
The situation is a 12 x 12 addition that was put on about 30 years ago in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and in my opinion not very well. I say new Hampshire because we endure cold winters and harsh storms.
We’ve been getting this musty smell. So we removed and trashed the carpet. I cut out a section of subfloor and it’s a material I’ve never seen before. The best way I can describe it is it looks like compressed-glued sawdust. It’s a half inch thick and they put 2 layers on creating a 1 inch thick subfloor.
They used 2 x 10 joist and they are 16-inchs on center. Instead of a concrete cellar or a slab they used concrete footings.
The floor joist bays are open, no insulation, and the ground (earth) varies, but a good average is about a foot from the joist. No one I know is skinny enough to crawl under the addition.
I took a piece of subfloor and wet it and smelled it. To me it smelled like the musty smell we have been smelling. My wife smells something, but disagrees that is the musty smell.
My original plan was to use ¾ pt plywood, seal it with Red Guard, have a vapor barrier padding and a new carpet.
Now I’m thinking could I lay down some thick plastic like a drop cloth over the earth, somehow insulate between the joists, subfloor ¾ PT plywood, and seal it with Red Guard, then the vapor barrier padding and a new carpet.
What do you think?
In your opinion, what would you do or recommend?
Thank you,
Randy
Answer Dear Randy,
I think that you are getting some mold or mildew in your wood composite flooring causing odors when it gets moist. I would coat the floor with a two part epoxy to seal out the odor. Now the joints between sheets may still crack but 98% of the floor will be sealed and will not let vapors in. The epoxy will adhere to that flooring quite will with little preparation. You will need two coats. If you go to www.concrete-floor-coatings.com you can get a free cost analysis but will only need to buy the epoxy and application tools. It would not hurt to screen off the floor before application but the epoxy should stick well regardless on your surface.
