What`s The Deal With Dricore??

danaudio · Post by **danaudio** » Thu Jun 26, 2003 4:40 am

Hello All. I have recently discovered a product called Dricore at my local home depot. My studio design is still in the planning stages, and I have been considering floating the floors of my control room.

Check this stuff out...it is used to seperate your floors from basement floors...to avoid loss of heat. It has a rubber pad on the bottom of it, and basically..fiber baord on top.

I held it with my hands and it seems very sturdy, and durable...so I am sure it will work in terms of carrying weight...but will work to float my floor? Will it raise the floor up off of the groung enough to do anything?

It is sold as a "floating floor" and also claims it is great for building wall structures on top of....it is basically made to refinish basements.

Let me know...

http://www.dricore.com

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Thu Jun 26, 2003 7:59 am

Dan, while that stuff looks like a good match for the job they claim it will do, the term "floating floor" is bandied about pretty freely by non-acousticians. I've still got tons to learn on this subject, but basically a true floated floor needs to incorporate a serious mass, suspended and isolated from the rest of the building by carefully chosen isolation devices. These are sometimes seen in the form of springs that can be adjusted by removing small caps in the poured concrete floating floor to even out the support of the floor.

There are a lot of factors involved in successfully floating a floor - you need to know the density of the isolation material, and there are formulas (which I may or may not understand) to calculate the degree of compression needed to optimise the isolation that is accomplished. If I'm not mistaken, you typically want about 10-15% compression of the isolation substance, which has to be calculated depending on whether you have your walls resting on the floor to create a totally floated room, or whether the walls are separate and the floor is isolated from them by a surrounding soft board (similar to Celotex) - in other words, you need to know the total weight that will be supported including floor, walls, ceiling (?) # of people typically in the room, all equipment, etc -

If you already have concrete floors and want something to put down for a sub-floor, this stuff doesn't look like a bad idea - but I wouldn't assume that it will give you much isolation. Also, it isn't recommended that you glue or seal between sections, and it only comes in 2' x 2' squares, so it would be nearly impossible if you needed to seal it acoustically... Steve

danaudio · Post by **danaudio** » Thu Jun 26, 2003 8:52 am

cool. I didn`t really think it would work, but thought I would bring it to everyone`s attention. I guess I will have to go with 2x6s, and rubber pucks.

David · Post by **David** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:56 am

the Dricore per tile can carry up to 5500lbs per square foot i believe. one of the benefits of the product is in the saving of headroom vs. regular plywood subfloor sheets. It certainly is easier to carry, handle and install vs more regular methods. one area that one would have to closely look at as a risk is the seam between the tiles after they have been snapped in place. how good the subfloor would or could be sealed acoustically is the question. Would you add a bead of acoustic sealant? would that become too cumbersome, too expensive vs. the traditional staggering of subfloor plywood sheets as depicted in the construction of subfloors in the recording manual?

I have asked Dricore for more specific info fwc any research they may have done in terms of acoustical qualities of the product, measured in either STC or NRC. if and when I hear back I'll post further info.