Has anyone recently used the DRIcore subfloor system and got anything good or bad to say about it? I am thinking about installing it in my new unfinished basement. I do not intend to finish the basement until later, but want to install a subfoor in the mean time. Will I be able to install interior partition walls on this at a later date? Thanks.
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Replies
DRIcore¯ and other similar products are the subfloor equivalent to vinyl or aluminum siding; i.e.: Fast and easy, but not good.
Any direct-on-slab 'engineered' subfloor will follow the humps and valleys of the slab itself, so your floors won't be flat unless your slab is (few are). This means, among other things, that you won't be able to use tile or hardwood (or even floating flooring) for your finish floor; only carpet or vinyl tile. And even if your slab is flat, it won't (and shouldn't) be level: a basement slab needs to be sloped for drainage.
The proper way to install a subfloor over a concrete slab is on sleepers which are cut so that the top surface of the sleeper is level while the bottom surface mates with the slope of the slab. This is not rocket-science, but it is a labour-intensive procedure which requires the use of a transit or laser level, mapping of the contours of the slab, and a lot of table-saw work. Additionally, sleepers should be notched with 'weep holes' on the bottom so that any water infiltration can flow under them towards the floor drain.
In answer to your other question, no, you cannot build partition walls on top of DRIcore; the plastic nubs on the bottom of the OSB panels are not structural and will crush down over time and allow the walls to sag, cracking the gyprock.
If you insist on using DRIcore and plan to partition the basement space later, you need to plan the divisions now and build the stud walls directly on the slab. The DRIcore is laid inside each room as a sort of 'floating' subfloor, independent of the framing. (Note that because of the thickness of the subfloor, it would be wise to use double sole-plates under the studs so that you won't wind up trying to screw the bottom of your gyprock to the half-inch of plate that will extend above the DRIcore.)
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
Partion walls are not structural and don't weigh enough to wear down those plastic nubs. You have a good point about the irregularities of the slab telegraphing, but the nubs also work to even out differences of about 3/16" so it really depends how terrible the crete work is. I'd use Dricore in many situations and not in others.
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I've used it myself--mostly in situations where the HO didn't have the budget to do it right, or where the added height of a subfloor on sleepers was not acceptable due to the basement overhead being too low to start with. I see a lot of that up here in cottage country. 9-10 courses of block seemed to be about standard 30 years back....
But I would not use DRIcore for any kind of high-quality basement job; the limitations of what kind of finish flooring you can lay on it are too severe.
As for the partition walls, I agree they're not structural by intent and don't weigh that much but they will still transmit forces down from upstairs if those forces exceed the joist load (people have been known to put big fishtanks, file cabinets, bookshelves, record collections or whatever in the middle of spans).
More worrisome, those DRIcore panels can flex if there is a void under them, and that could lead to movement of the sole plate as people walk over the low spot. As you said, tho, it depends on how ugly the slab is.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
As a FYI, the Lowes in Fremont Ohio and most likely other Lowes are clearancing out the Dricore panels. Also, Home Depot has a contractor program buy 100 and get a $20 gift card from Dricore.
Disclaimer: You might get a few "Huh's?" form Home Depot employee's who don't know about this program. But it does exist.
Didn't have money to do it right? The last time I priced DriCore they were like $5 for a 2'x2' square. Quite a bit more expensive than 2x4 sleepers and 3/4" OSB.
Labour.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
You would probably do better to put down delta on the floor and fasten with tapcons. Lots of work but results are good. Usually shoot right over drains, I suppose if you had a really low spot some shingles might make a good base. I don't think I'd put a partition on it either, It wouln't crush, but I'd be concerned that if I pushed down on one side of the wall I might create a bump on the other side. I think as far as versatility goes without adding height this is the best method. I've personally never done sleepers it seems evey time I have opened up a floor that had a leak there is mold to one extent or another. I've heard of guys using sm boad under plywood too. I don't know how right I am in saying this but one time I had laid out lineoleum out to 'relax' in the basement when I pulled it up the floor was soaked. I was afraid the sm would have the same result.
About 2 years ago we had an unusual set of conditions as the frost went out of the ground in the spring, resulting in a lot of wet basements. Many houses which had gone 40+ years with dry basements got wet.
Our basement got enough water in it to soak the carpet which covered the finished part of the basement. Had to rip it out.
I put Dricore in 1 room, and am planning to do the rest of the previously carpeted areas, then carpet on top. My thinking is that on the off chance that we get wet again, I want something I can pull up fairly quickly, so that I have a chance of getting it dried out before mold starts.
A couple other options I looked at:
1) Interlocking foam squares w/ indoor - outdoor carpet bonded to the top. Would make a nice insulated floor, which could also be easily peeled up to dry in case of flooding. Pricier than I wanted, though.
2) There's also a source out there for rolls of bumpy plastic similar to the Dricore bottom. You roll it out then put T&G ply, OSB or Advantech over it. Similar price to Dricore, but would probably be quicker if you were doing a large area.
Don
I used some about 5 years ago and now the glue holding the plastic nibs on the bottom is falling apart causing an annoying crackling noise when walked over. Unless they've switched to a different glue or your tinnitus is worse than mine (no way), avoid, avoid, avoid.
Edited 2/8/2009 6:45 am ET by MVAgusta