# Any way to make dricore less bouncy?



## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

I installed dricore throughout my basement as I needed something to be able to walk on without needing shoes, the concrete floor is very rough/pourous and extremly dirty from dust etc... and due to it's roughness cannot be cleaned or painted. 

TBH I'm really not happy how it turned out, lot of spots are very bouncy due to the unevenness of the floor. I know they sell shims but it's hard to tell where it will be bouncy till it's all installed, so I would not have known where to put them anyway. The whole thing was usually in the air till I put the next tile then it would bring it down. 

I tried tapcons, but those things suck as far as pull strength. They just pull right out. Could maybe try powder actuated gun? But then I'll have fastners sticking out all over, those don't always go in all the way, and if I cut the head it will defeat the purpose as the board will pull up anyway.

Can I drill a hole in the bad spots and just spray foam in it? Though, would that just compress?

Just wondering if I have any decent options. 

I regret not just hireing a company to come smooth out the concrete, and then I could have done epoxy or something like that. Probably would have cost as much as the dricore anyway. The good thing about the dricore is that it's more warm on the feet though. 

Another thing I'm wondering is, if I put cinder blocks on the bouncy spots, will it eventually fix itself? Or will it just go right back to being bouncy as soon as I take them off?

What about if I install hardwood or laminate, will that somehow fix the problem, or is that only going to make it worse because now that floor will bounce too?


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

Another thing I'm thinking, maybe get a couple cinder blocks or other heavy blocks, stack them in the areas that are bouncy to keep the floor down, then throw in a couple tapcons all around. To prevent the tapcons from pulling out I can use PL premium on the threads first, then let that sit overnight with the cinder blocks in place. I can then proceed to the next spot and keep doing this. 

Think this could work? The issue I foresee is whatever I do to fix in one spot is just going to move the bouncyness somewhere else, so if I go with the tapcons I'll probably end up having to put them throughout the entire floor. I just hope the PL premium would hold up over time as it would suck to have them pull up at some point in the future once a proper floor is installed over it.


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

Dricore shims should have been used for minor imperfections in the slab. 

A tapcon here and there along with the shims is all that should be needed for a relativity flat slab.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

Problem with the shims is it's hard to tell where they are needed, until the entire floor is done. It's also a chain effect, add one somewhere then somewhere else will be bouncy because now it lifted a whole section.

Guess what I should have done is laid down self leveling cement throughout the entire basement before installing. 

I still need to finish the last section, it may fix one of the really bad spots (near where I left off). Then I'll see where I need tapcons and probably go that route, and just put PL premium on the tapcon threads before inserting, so they don't pull out.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

I've never used Dricore---could something be injected under the panels to shim it?


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

1, are those tiles removable from the middle of the floor ? 
2, or you have to work backwards (like click laminate) to get to the bad spot ? 


if 1. remove the effected tiles and put layer/s of tar paper to shim em up.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

They can't be removed in the middle as it's tongue and groove, and because it's OSB you end up damaging if you try to remove them after. You can, but trying to remove an entire floor without damaging it would be a huge job. Actually now that I think of it I could not even if I wanted to since I framed a wall on top. In fact you're suppose to frame the outside walls on top too and I did not do that, I regret it now, as that would perhaps help keep it more steady. I plan to put my shelving units back up but as it stands they will just fall over as I walk around as everything moves. 

Though I am wondering if I can inject something too... maybe some kind of concrete? Though if I step on it once (and I'll have to, to get to that spot) it will just flatten.

Almost need some kind of foam based product that gets very hard. So when I get off of it after doing the work it will stick to the bottom and stretch it back to proper height, then it will cure very hard. Is there such product?

I have thought of using a skill saw to make a square then shim from there, but then I need to try to make this square equal without it being loose.


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

I don't see why spray foam wouldn't work in your case. I wouldn't cut a hole, I'd just drill one (1/4"+) just enough to get the tube in there and under the panel a bit. 

Check out the dimple layout on another panel and be sure to inject the foam where it ends up under the panel rather than inside of a cell. I'd probably put some weight on that area after injecting too.


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## olzo55 (Jul 15, 2012)

I'd use self leveler. It would seep around the open areas under the panel.

Foam might expand and raise the floor up. Also, it won't spread out very much.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

I was thinking self leveler as well, only thing, while I walk on it to apply/drill holes etc, will it squish it to the point where it wont work it's way high enough? Or will it be liquid enough that it will just form back up?

Seems this may be the easiest thing to do, I can drill a couple 1 inch holes or so with my hole saw and pour it in.


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## olzo55 (Jul 15, 2012)

pre-drill the holes. Leveler isn't like water but more like syrup. And you can add a little more to the hole if needed. You might want to vibrate the dricore by striking it with a rubber mallet to shake the leveler so it spreads better. Then leave it alone until it sets.

Don't mix a full bag to start until you understand how much working time you need. Be sure to measure the porportions and use the same ratios as a full bag. Cold water slows the set and gives you more time. Basically, read the directions.

I want to add, you don't need to totally fill the dricore space. You only need to fill the part that would touch the existing concrete floor. It might dry quicker/better if not completely filled.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

Yesterday real quick I decided to try my hand at tapcons again, I find those are very hit and miss but when they work they work decently, and I got a couple of them to stick and it really helped those areas. I'm thinking I might buy an impact and try some more tapcons as it might go better with an impact. Failing that I'll do the self leveler as well. Some spots that are really bad I'll probably be better off just using the self leveler. I'll use a bottle top as a funnel to pour it into the hole. The edges of the room will probably be the worst spots especially if I want to put any kind of shelves I don't want them to shake as I walk around.


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## olzo55 (Jul 15, 2012)

update if you try the self leveler. I'm sure the next guy would want to know what works best. :thumbsup:


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

Yep will do, I plan to go shopping on the weekend. Going to try the impact first and go from there.


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## northernlite (Oct 12, 2009)

I covered my very unlevel basement floor with something similar to the dricore. It's a long story but I created a mostly level base and then put down 4 x 8 sheets of 3/4" T&G with 1" of foam glued to the underside. I attached them down with tapcons, hundreds of them. About 30-40 per 4x8 sheet. 
I tried hammer drills but it was a huge waste of time, bits and money. 
Bought a SDS drill for $140 and that made all the difference. Worth every penny. I would advise you get one, you'll be happy you did. I used an impact driver to set the tapcons. Wore out my cordless dewalt and went to an electric 1/2" impact wrench, like you'd use on car tires. Worked great.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

northernlite said:


> I covered my very unlevel basement floor with something similar to the dricore. It's a long story but I created a mostly level base and then put down 4 x 8 sheets of 3/4" T&G with 1" of foam glued to the underside. I attached them down with tapcons, hundreds of them. About 30-40 per 4x8 sheet.
> I tried hammer drills but it was a huge waste of time, bits and money.
> Bought a SDS drill for $140 and that made all the difference. Worth every penny. I would advise you get one, you'll be happy you did. I used an impact driver to set the tapcons. Wore out my cordless dewalt and went to an electric 1/2" impact wrench, like you'd use on car tires. Worked great.


Yeah using a Bosh Bulldog with SDS bits for the holes, HUGE difference vs a hammer drill. using hammer drill to drive the tapcons, but they always stop at about 1 inch left to go, then the drill spins uncontrollably and strips the head. If I'm lucky it will jam, giving me a chance to stop the power, reverse, then drive and I can eventually get it in.

I want to try an impact though, maybe that will make driving the tapcons easier. 

If I can get to a point where I can insert the tapcons in one shot without fighting with them I can then put some PL Premium on them too for some extra hold. But I don't want to do that when I'm spending in some cases half an hour fighting with it to screw in, as it will start to dry. That should ensure they never pull out.


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## northernlite (Oct 12, 2009)

I broke more than a lot of screws, or twisted them off or stripped the threads. I discovered the length of screw was fairly critical. The instructions say the screw should imbed 1-1.25" (I think that's what it was), not more or less. That made a huge difference. I didn't bother with any glue.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

So I bought an impact driver, and damn that makes the world of a difference for driving tapcons. So I pretty much just ended up sticking with my original attempt at using tapcons. I'd say half of them end up breaking, but at least the other half are actually going in all the way now. I'm not using any kind of glue like I was going to do, hopefully these will hold and not start to pop after a while, but it feels like they will hold quite well.

I can jump up and down on the spots that I did and I don't feel the whole floor moving. This will be important especially where I plan to work out as I might want to do exercises that involve jumping or other fast movements. 

I did not realize impact drivers had a completely different chuck, but the guy at Home Depot was quite helpful in finding me what I needed to ensure I can drive the tapcons. I always hear bad things about Home Depot but I have to admit they're usually fairly helpful at least at ours.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Thanks for the update---let us know if you try drilling and injecting a filler--


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

Just be sure to plug those new holes in the Dricore to keep the air/moisture below to equalize the pressure, Fig.3; http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-003-concrete-floor-problems?full_view=1

That is a new problem you are having, I haven't read about it anywhere else yet... thanks for sharing.

Gary


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## KinNorth (Nov 6, 2011)

Anchoring it to an uneven floor may mean that you'll 'transmit'? the unevenness to the surface and mess up future flooring like vinyl laminate, etc. or you'll then have to use levelling compound on the surface.

Given that talk is cheap here's my totally lay suggestion: 

I think I'd want to identify the extent of the low areas by laying a long straight edge across the floor and then stand on the flooring to see where it sags under your weight. Then maybe chalk the perimeter.

Then maybe drill some small pilot holes to later run wood screws through them to lift the dry core off the concrete till it touches the bottom of the straightedge. At the same time drill some holes to allow you to very lightly foam each corner for more support. (But you risk lifting the dry core so this may be a stupid idea from which you could not recover! )

Then a bunch of of larger holes to squeeze in some sort of non expanding, near self levelling filler / or plain old levelling compound that would harden. ( is there anything in tubes for grease guns?)

Without the wood screws I would worry that the weight of the drycore itself would sag on the filler and/or the filler would squeeze back up through the holes.

Note: leaving the straight edge in place as a lift guide, I imagine you would want to 'float' over the workspace so you could also then use some sort of pier section / scaffold to straddle the compressible areas of the floor letting you sit on this bridge while injecting the filler into the flooring below you, thus avoiding having your own weight permanently squeeze it down. A piece of plywood laying on a ladder across the floor raised by some 4x4s at either end of the pier straddling the work area might work.

Then hit it with the wood screws till it's level to the straight edge, then shoot in the leveller material, then after a couple days or whatever pull the wood screws and test...


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## handyman_squire (Aug 5, 2012)

I know I am not an expert and it's to late now. But your suppose to identify the low spots first with a straight edge so you can determine where to put the shims.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

Figured I'd update this, realized I never did. 

The tapcons were a pain as half of them break or simply don't hold, and the heads stick out and hurt when you step on them, and will make it hard to add any kind of flooring in the future. 

What I ended up doing is using framing nails! Drill hole that nail barely fits in but still can be dropped in, then cut pieces of metal wire and put them in the hole, then drive the nail. Holds 10x better than a tapcon and they leave a flat head. I never bothered going around and replacing the tapcons that did go in properly, but I did all the floor, so like even in the middle and all the bad areas. It's been a few years now and it's still holding. I can walk around without the whole floor shaking.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

Thanks, we used to install basement bottom plates that way, drill a hole, add two nails, drive 'em-done, those were the good old days, lol.

Gary


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## Rusty Irons (Jun 1, 2021)

Red Squirrel said:


> So I bought an impact driver, and damn that makes the world of a difference for driving tapcons. So I pretty much just ended up sticking with my original attempt at using tapcons. I'd say half of them end up breaking, but at least the other half are actually going in all the way now. I'm not using any kind of glue like I was going to do, hopefully these will hold and not start to pop after a while, but it feels like they will hold quite well.
> 
> I can jump up and down on the spots that I did and I don't feel the whole floor moving. This will be important especially where I plan to work out as I might want to do exercises that involve jumping or other fast movements.
> 
> I did not realize impact drivers had a completely different chuck, but the guy at Home Depot was quite helpful in finding me what I needed to ensure I can drive the tapcons. I always hear bad things about Home Depot but I have to admit they're usually fairly helpful at least at ours.


I am not sure why Tapcon does not specify using an impact driver with their screws. I had a similar experience trying to get Tapcon screws flush with the dricore subfloor just using a regular power drill...of course that is after using a hammer drill to predrill to the proper depth. With the regular power drill I would maybe get 1 out of 10 Tapcon screws flush with the subfloor. Using an impact driver I am now getting more like 9 out of 10 Tapcon screws flush with the subfloor, the difference is night and day.
Tapcon need to specify using an impact driver, they would end up selling a lot more screws I'm sure!


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