Floors and subfloors

[Guest guest]

After removing carpet, padding, vinyl tiles (not asbestos-containing), and

particle-board underlayment in a bedroom of my new house (which I'm hoping to

make safe for sensitive me), I'm down to a plywood subfloor. It smells and

makes me sick. I've mopped up a lot of plaster dust off it, which helps. It

should be 1977 vintage. I'm considering a layer or two of Safe Seal from AFM

before installing prefinished hardwood flooring (over paper?). Any advice

appreciated. I'm new here. The computer is not environmentally friendly either,

so I'm not purusing past posts in a leisurely way, but would appreciate being

pointed to any relevant ones.

[Guest guest]

I have talked to too many people who are sensitive to AFM products. I looked

into Eco Safety products but never ordered a sample. I have a sample of Vermont

Natural Coatings. Someone used it, didn't react but said after a month she

couldn't stand the " hay " smell it had & gave it a coat of AFM. I didn't think I

could tolerate a whole room of the smell of the prefinished wood samples I got.

Marmolem (cheaper) sample was odorless until left it in the dampness & then

smelled like wet natural materials. It seemed a bad choice to me. I may just go

with plywood caulked floors sealed with VT Natural. Will use the product under

my sink soon after sanding off fragrance. I'll let you know how it is but

remeber we are all different. Get samples beforehand.

>

> After removing carpet, padding, vinyl tiles (not asbestos-containing), and

particle-board underlayment in a bedroom of my new house (which I'm hoping to

make safe for sensitive me), I'm down to a plywood subfloor. It smells and

makes me sick. I've mopped up a lot of plaster dust off it, which helps. It

should be 1977 vintage. I'm considering a layer or two of Safe Seal from AFM

before installing prefinished hardwood flooring (over paper?). Any advice

appreciated. I'm new here. The computer is not environmentally friendly either,

so I'm not purusing past posts in a leisurely way, but would appreciate being

pointed to any relevant ones.

>

[Guest guest]

What does it smell like? Is the odor coming from the plywood

surface or from around the outer edges or seams?

What is below the floor? Concrete slab, basement, crawlspace?

If the odor is not on the surface then sealing the surface won't do

anything.

Carl Grimes

Healthy Habitats LLC

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After removing carpet, padding, vinyl tiles (not asbestos-containing),

and particle-board underlayment in a bedroom of my new house (which

I'm hoping to make safe for sensitive me), I'm down to a plywood

subfloor. It smells and makes me sick. I've mopped up a lot of plaster

dust off it, which helps. It should be 1977 vintage. I'm considering a layer

or two of Safe Seal from AFM before installing prefinished hardwood

flooring (over paper?). Any advice appreciated. I'm new here. The

computer is not environmentally friendly either, so I'm not purusing past

posts in a leisurely way, but would appreciate being pointed to any

relevant ones.

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[Guest guest]

Thanks for your response, Carl. After the third mopping (with spot-scrubbing)

the plywood now smells less like plaster dust and more like...well, plywood. (I

don't really know.) It smells the same all over (except a few knot-holes which

still have more plaster dust in them). There is a crawlspace below the floor.

I don't smell mold now, although I thought I did in the particle board (no one

else could confirm this, including an expert who tested for mold).

I'm deliberating now (assuming I can " fix " the plywood) about hardwood flooring.

Is there a difference, from a health perspective, between uv-cured, water-based

polyurethane and uv-cured, water-based acrylic urethane? Lumber Liquidators

claims their house brand, Bellawood, is zero VOC (that's the polyurethane with

aluminum oxide).

Also there is the issue of an underlayment.

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