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Hi Craig,
Keep in mind that I was referencing “just over 1/2 inch thick” for the plywood alone. The plastic base brings the thickness of DriCore up to just under 1 inch. Sounds like the two products are very similar.
A couple of tips I learned when installing:
The floor is supposed to “float”, tacked down on one side, supposedly with masonry nails. I did not do this, because my floor was so large. It ain’t moving nowhere. Use a 2×4 edgewise as a backer to install the pieces against the wall, especially if you have a perimeter drain. You can leave them in for a good support, and it also helps spacing if you are going to build studded walls on top of the floor.
Do not install them 4-square style, with all four pieces meeting at a point. Stagger each other row for strongest seams.
Use a 4-ft level to keep the floor straight.
Good luck with your installation.
Thank you HarryC for your response. It is a swale, but was closed off by the neighbors before I bought the house. ie, at some point they built a 8-inch berm across their part of the swale, poorly installed some underground corrugated tubing, causing my part of the swale to become a pond with frogs and cattails even. I bought the property knowing I was going to put in drainage, so I was not too concerned about the berm, or the pond. Once I bring in the topsoil I need, the surface water should resume again across the swale, albeit across their berm as well, because my new topsoil will be as deep as their berm is high.
Also, the water had already started to run more clearly, so that is a relief. Thanks again!
It sounds like there is something on the circuit that is drawing current regularly. Could be an electric heater, fridge, sump pump, etc.
Are the basement walls behind the studded walls concrete? If so, then the studded walls are removable, they were installed after the foundation and walls were built. Removing these walls should not cause your house to fall apart. Are the stacked 2x4s pressure treated?
The more pressing issue is not removing all that is wet and trying to dry it out, because the water will continue to come in and make it wet again. You need to identify why water is seeping into your basement, and fix that.
Do you have a sump pump? Does it run ever? Are there wet spots outside near your house? What kind of drainage do you have from your roof? Look for dirt spots where grass is not growing around your house. This is a sign of standing water.
If you can dry out your basement by greatly reducing or eliminating the water getting into your basement, then you can get a decent de-humidifier ($100) to help get the dampness out. Once the water is not seeping in, the wood should dry out. Once the studs are dry, you can drywall again.
Another area you want to look at is the insulation. It should not be in direct contact with your concrete walls, as this could produce condensation. If your studded walls are insulated, and you are finding stacked 2×4’s to keep the walls off the conrete walls, then chances are you have enough air between the insulation and the concrete walls. The key is air flow.
I would paint the concrete floor with KILZ or some other stain/smell removing paint, to help get rid of the musty smell. Then look at plywood subfloors like DriCore to keep your new carpet/vinyl/laminate flooring off the concrete floor. It creates breathing room underneath the subfloor, and also feels much better to the feet. It also warms up the basement helping it to not feel like what it is, a basement.
How frequently are the lights dimming? Every few minutes? Once a second? How long do they stay dim? Do any other lights in the house dim at the same time?
You will want to find out what is on that circuit: Turn on all the lights in the house, and flip your breaker off, and record which lights go out.
Take a radio or some other portable electrical device, and go around the house checking the outlets, there may be some outlets tied into the circuit, although this is rare in newer homes.
Just a start. My floor lamp in my bedroom pulse dims a little when my laser printer is working, because they are on the same circuit, and the fuser in the printer causes it.
The quick fix is just fill the cracks with drywall compound, let dry and paint. You might need to sand a little prior to painting, depending on how good you mud the cracks.
The more correct solution would be to tape some adhesive-backed fiberglass tape over the cracks, and skim drywall compound over that. You would have to be fairly handy with drywall compound to get this to look right, or have a fresh supply of sandpaper ready after it dries. The screen-type sandpaper for drywall is great. Turn fans and forced-air system off when sanding. A good vaccuum cleaner when all is said and done.
If you are not that drywall savvy, and you have the cash, you might want to consider having a drywall contractor do the job.
I bought and installed about 700 sq ft of DriCore from Home Depot in the ground floor of my raised ranch. DriCore is an excellent product, and sounds very similar to the Supra Floor.
It was very easy to install, but you will need a table saw to cut down pieces as needed. I would highly suggest getting the “floor leveler” tiles, they are little pieces of the plastic underside that are placed under sections where the concrete dips. A 4-ft level will also help a lot.
I paid about $1.25 per sq ft. The cost was well worth it for resilient floors. It warms the basement up, and it feels like a regular floor on a house, not a refinished basement.
The quality of the finished product depends greatly on the quality of your concrete floor, how it was poured and finished. My concrete floor was in excellent shape, although I still had to use about 50 pieces of the floor levelers.
If you have a lot of slop, swales, or high spots, it will be more difficult. You would not be able to use this system on some older concrete jobs, like my last home I owned which was built in the 1950’s. There was close to a two-inch difference from area to area, especially in the corners and near posts.
The only thing I would do differently if I had to do it over again, is I would look for a product just a bit thicker. I felt that the DriCore was just a bit less thick than I would have liked. The plywood is just over 1/2-inch thick. I would have liked 3/4-inch.
