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Back in 2020, a new kind of basement subfloor panel appeared in the market
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and I've been getting a steady stream of homeowner questions about it ever since
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In this video, I'll recap the four most common questions I see and offer
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insights into the all-foam, drycore InsulArmor panels that I've been discussing with people by email. For most situations, InsulArmor is the best I've
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seen so far for creating the foundation of a warm, mold-resistant, finished
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basement floor on concrete. And as I mentioned, InsulArmor is an all-foam
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panel, that's what makes it unique, and this single feature leads to the most
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common question that I get about the product. Is this foam really strong
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enough to walk on? Yes, InsulArmor is strong enough when installed properly as
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part of a hard surface flooring system. It's denser and stronger than most rigid
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foams on the market, so much so that you don't even need a second layer of plywood on top of the foam, as is required if using regular foam as part
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of a floor. With InsulArmor, you can apply a hard surface floor, such as laminate or
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vinyl, directly on top. And both are excellent options for basements, by the
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way, regardless of what's underneath of it. Numbers show the higher strength of
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drycore InsulArmor too, and in the world of rigid foams, density is one measure of
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firmness and strength. So regular sheets of extruded polystyrene and expanded polystyrene foam, that's the two kinds that are most common out there, and you'd
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find this stuff from building supply outlets. They all have a typical density
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of one pound per cubic foot, and sometimes two pounds for heavy-duty
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foams. InsulArmor, by contrast, has a density of three pounds per cubic foot
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and this makes a big difference. The moment you pick up a piece of this stuff
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you know it's no ordinary foam. InsulArmor has a rated compressive strength of 3,650 pounds per square foot. So what does this mean? Well, imagine you
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cut a 12 inch by 12 inch piece of plywood, you set it on an InsulArmor
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panel that's on the floor, then you took a mid-sized car, mm-hmm, and stood it up
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on end, resting entirely on this piece of plywood. Even this extreme loading will
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not crush the foam or leave a dent. And while it's not exactly practical to do
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this kind of test, seeing is believing. So take a look at the test I ran for
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exploring just how supportive InsulArmor is under a lot of weight in the real
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world. Watch me drive on some InsulArmor panels in various situations right now
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with my pickup truck, and let's see what happens. So this is the test setup I've
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made to actually test the Dricor InsulArmor under something like real conditions. I mean, this is far more rigorous than you'd ever encounter in a
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basement, but I just wanted to explain what's all about here. We've got a
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piece of quarter-inch plate steel. I didn't want to put the foam right on the
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road. It's kind of rough. I didn't think it was too accurate that way, so we got
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the smooth base. These ramps on and off the steel are hot melt glued in place
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because it wouldn't really be fair to drive up over the edge. We want to get
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get up before we start on the flooring. This is engineered click flooring right
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here of the kind that would be great for a basement, and then this is the
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InsulArmor panel underneath. So I'm gonna drive over this, and then we're gonna
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take it apart and see what happens. So I really don't know for sure how this is gonna turn out. Let's take a look. So
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far it looks okay. Let's see. Wow. Look at that. Absolutely no compression
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whatsoever. Yeah, that's what I would have expected from the numbers, and it looks like it's worked out that way. Let's try driving over it
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again without the flooring on, just for fun. Let's see if we can damage this stuff driving directly on the foam
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Well, I'm even more impressed with this strength than I was before. I mean, even
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driving over the bare foam, except for just that, I don't know if you can see that
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tiniest little compressions here from the tire treads. Really very irrelevant, and you're not gonna be driving over this stuff bare in your basement anyway
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But there's nothing like taking something to the extreme to just show
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what it's capable of, and as I said, this stuff is hard and strong for sure
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Can't I just put regular foam sheets on my concrete basement floor, then finished
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flooring on top? No, not exactly. The higher density of InsulArmor means it
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can support hard surface flooring directly without the help of another layer of plywood. The numbers you've seen now just show how regular sheets of
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foam have only one to two-thirds the density and compressive strength of
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InsulArmor, so these regular foams need the help of plywood or OSB on top before
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the finished flooring goes down. You can certainly use regular foam sheets in
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this way as part of your basement subfloor, but you will need to put a
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second layer of something on top first before the finished flooring goes down
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And as I explained to people who inquire about this, InsulArmor has other
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unique strengths and benefits too. First, the product has a raised bottom profile
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and this creates an airspace so the product can tolerate small amounts of
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leaked water that may get into your basement. Without this airspace, even the
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tiniest basement leaks can rise up and ruin your finished flooring. The presence
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of an airspace creates a kind of grace zone, if you will, that makes all the
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difference with small leaks. The same leak without a raised subfloor could
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mean tearing out and replacing all your finished basement flooring when you
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might not otherwise have to if you had the airspace on your side. Another
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advantage is the smaller size of InsulArmor panels compared with the size
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of regular foam sheets. Regular sheets of foam are typically two feet wide and
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eight feet long, and that's pretty big to wrestle into your house. InsulArmor is
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half the size, which is just about the limit for convenient carrying downstairs
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Is InsulArmor suitable under all types of flooring? No, it's not. If you have your
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heart set on carpet in your basement, and I don't recommend it, you'll need to put
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down a layer of plywood or OSB on top of the InsulArmor first, followed by
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underlaying carpet. If you insist on installing carpet in your basement, then
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you'd be better off using one of the more traditional OSB and plastic
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subfloor panels, because these don't need additional wood on top. Also, any kind of
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flooring that needs to be fastened down, as opposed to click, edge glued, or loose
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lay flooring, is not convenient for use over InsulArmor. And to be honest, this
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isn't the handiest thing to do over any kind of foam insulation, simply because
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the foam doesn't offer anything strong enough to anchor to. This is why free
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floating options, such as luxury vinyl plank and tile, laminate, and engineered
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click hardwood, are the best options to use over InsulArmor, and they just
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happen to be the best for basements in general, too. Is InsulArmor worth the
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extra money? InsulArmor costs 10 to 20 percent more than the typical OSB panels
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for a given floor area, and for most situations I think this extra is more
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than justified, because of the advantages of the product. At R4.1, InsulArmor offers the most insulation value of any commercial basement
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subfloor panel that I've seen. It's also much lighter in weight than traditional
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OSB subfloors, and that means easier to carry downstairs, and by a long shot, by
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the way. InsulArmor also comes in panel sizes that are twice as large as OSB
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panels, so you cover ground more quickly during installation. I also know from my
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own experience that the tongue and groove edges on InsulArmor come together super easy, with no need to use a mallet, protective edge blocks, or
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anything like that. Cutting couldn't be easier either with InsulArmor. It's so
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dense and rigid you just score a line with a utility knife and straightedge
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then snap the panel over your knee to break it. You can't do that with OSB
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panels, nor regular foam. It's getting easier to finish basements properly, and
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this comes down to the availability of innovative products that address the
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unique conditions found when finishing a basement. Do your homework, choose the
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best products, then enjoy the kind of warm, dry, comfortable, and enduring value
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of an inviting and properly finished basement space