working in a very old building (historic); the floor is over an old cellar style basement. Original hardwood floor was covered with 1/2" masonite underlayment. There is a distinct old smell either coming from the basement or resident in the underlayment. Could remove underlayment, but smell will definitely come through now exposed numerous old flooring joints. Considering sealing in the underlayment with a product like this. Whatever we use needs to not only penetrate,but for a layer or coating. What do you think? SAMPLE - AFM SafeCoat, Hard Seal Wood Stains & Sealers

Question

working in a very old building (historic); the floor is over an old cellar style basement. Original hardwood floor was covered with 1/2" masonite underlayment. There is a distinct old smell either coming from the basement or resident in the underlayment. Could remove underlayment, but smell will definitely come through now exposed numerous old flooring joints. Considering sealing in the underlayment with a product like this. Whatever we use needs to not only penetrate,but for a layer or coating. What do you think? SAMPLE - AFM SafeCoat, Hard Seal Wood Stains & Sealers

Status: Open Jan 28, 2020 - 05:04 AM

1answer

Answer

Jan 30, 2020 - 05:10 AM

AFM Safecoat Hard Seal is chemically designed to seal in VOCs. It does not seal in other odors, so it may not help in your situation. If the odor is coming from the basement below, try Durasil Silicone caulk to seal up cracks and gaps. To keep from having to use a lot of the Durasil, fill the cracks first with backer rod, which is a product you can find at your hardware store. It is flexible and looks like a gray foam rope.If there are too many gaps for Durasil to be a practical solution, get a sample of RoofGuard to see if that will work.