Re: Flooring material resistant to VOCs

[Guest guest]

Metal, Concrete, Glass, (nonporous) Ceramic Tile?

The construction materials used in many nations are not as prone to mold as

in the US.

For subflooring, I would gather that solid wood or plywood, even, would be

superior to " OSB " (but plywood still can get moldy, IF ALLOWED TO GET WET)

I've seen lots of nice concrete floors.. Concrete doesn't have to be ugly or

cold..(there are stains and polishes that can make it quite nice..)

But its heavy..very heavy, and its also very unforgiving of situations where

it is allowed to " bend " . (i.e. it will crack if the support it is on moves..

so it mght not work in many wood homes..that really would be a question for

a structural engineer.)

[Guest guest]

>Go with ceramic-it doesnt have to be costly but it does need to be

installed the old fashioned way-mud floor and cement, not with glue.

At the height of my mold problems in my house i was able to hide in my

bathroom safely because the ceramic around me protected me from

everything-no odors could get through and the tiles themselves are

completely VOC free

> Could somebody recommend a material for kitchen flooring that is more

> resistant to contamination with mold VOCs that it is the case with

> vinyl and vinyl tiles?

>

> I need it for the kitchen floor. The vinyl tiles that are there now

> have picked up a VOC / mycotoxin contamination and it is impossible to

> decontaminate them.

>

> In general, I would like to avoid plastics. Plastics is the hardest

> (impossible) to clean as it absorbs the toxins and they become trapped

> inside.

>

> Thanks in advance.

>

> -Branislav

>

[Guest guest]

> >Go with ceramic-it doesnt have to be costly but it does need to be

> installed the old fashioned way-mud floor and cement, not with glue.

> At the height of my mold problems in my house i was able to hide in my

> bathroom safely because the ceramic around me protected me from

> everything-no odors could get through and the tiles themselves are

> completely VOC free

Thanks Surellabaer and Live,

I will go with ceramic tiles, installed the old fashioned way then.

One more question: How do you prevent plastic and painted parts of

electrical appliances in the bathroom and kitchen to become

contaminated with toxins?

For example, this year I had the misfortune of putting some tools on

the top painted part of my washing machine. The tools were VERY

contaminated with some extremely nasty toxin (due to its behavior I

presume it's a toxic MVOC rather than a mycotoxin). This contamination

was impossible to clean from the washing machine, and in time it

spread to other items in the bathroom and now it's in the kitchen

floor too.

The toxin in question has a particular affinity for plastics AND

paints. Everything can become contaminated with it, but plastics and

certain paints cannot be cleaned at all. Other materials, such as

wood, ceramic or even clothes can be cleaned in most cases.

So, are there any suggestions for materials that should be chosen for

appliances such as washing machine, boiler etc.?

I can see that most new models of these electrical appliances have

outer parts that consist either of plastics or of metal that is

painted with some paint (again not good).

-Branislav