Indoor air quality

Quantified Self General Health
1

Hello, I am trying to replace our carpets with laminate or pre finished solid timber floor.There are lots of information in the internet regarding air quality with laminate floors and pre finished timber.Each product have VOC level , formaldehyde level and they all are so different. Also underlay have some VOC and plywood that we going to put under the laminate…Someone had some experience will all this? Thanks

2

Not cheap, but the tools for VOC monitoring are pretty common in industrial use. For instance:

http://www.tequipment.net/Extech/VFM200/Indoor-Air-Quality-Monitors/

3

I can’t speak to monitoring VOCs, but some related thoughts:

  • You can coat subfloor / underlayment / unfinished particle board with Safe Seal. I did this recently and it eliminated the plywood smell. It’s about $50 USD / room.
  • Products marketed as VOC free are not necessarily free of harmful compounds. VOC is defined by your country’s government.
  • Green material suppliers will have people who can help you find low/no VOC products, e.g. Green Depot
4

Thanks a lot.Do you think that safe seal will lower VOC level of the plywood ?

5

From what I’ve read, plywood does not off-gas as much as particle board, due to having solid wood layers. But if you’re noticing off-gassing, Safe Seal will help; it encapsulates the plywood, keeping the VOCs in. You may want to cover the board ends as well.

My personal experience was with 4 year old flakeboard subfloor. I pulled up the carpet and padding and the glue smell was stronger that I liked. The smell was gone after spraying with one thick coat of Safe Seal. For application, I used a $6 home/garden sprayer from the hardware store.

Amazon’s product reviews are worth checking out.