Anyone ever covered a second story, wood floor with solid surface? We have a request to do a bedroom that is about 24' x 24' along with closets and bathroom.

Is this a ticking time bomb or something that could possibly work really well?

Thanks for any advice,

Andy

Corian introduced floor tiles about 10 years ago, don't know if you ever got any to test? It disappeared as fast as it was introduced.

It will work, I would only be concerned about two things. First, it shouldn't be any more slippery than ceramic tile, and second, it will be more prone to scratching than tile. Hopefully it's a light color?

Here's one:

http://www.designboom.com/eng/funcl...orian.html

Andy,
I've done two bathrooms in my own home, both with lots of knotchwork. I did hard seams, on a plywood 2nd story subfloor, putting a thin plastic sheet (countertop cover plactic) down under the hard seamed areas (no seam supports) and keeping the entire floor "floating" with a few spot glued silicone dabs, especially around the toilets. I put Corian/Staron base boards in each to cover the wall gap.

One done in glacier white Corian w/a routed 12" X 12" tile pattern (~15 years ago), the other in pebble frost Staron (~6 years ago), no routing. Neither have cracked. Never came close to slipping on either. Has worked great for us but I've been too paranoid to do one for a customer...mine do work. In the winter they're much warmer than tile.
...Wayne.

Pictures, Wayne?

Thanks for the info and links.

Andy:

I'd go for it. The reason DuPont gave up the 1/4" x 12" x 12"  tile was an inability to compete on price, not worries of failure. If you can get the green, go for it.

I took the DuPont tile training twenty years ago. They recommended epoxy mastic and grout, both top-of-the-line and expensive.

Joe

The reason that duPont stopped the flooring project was not price. That had already been approved. The problem was liability. Wet Corian is as slippery as ice if you are wearing shoes. It has very good grip on bare skin but they found that slip and fall injuries could be a nightmare. They paid off the expenses of both flooring companies they were working with and halted the project.

Corporate memory can be short. So I can see them touting its use for flooring again.

Ken

Great information about the slip hazard.

Posted By Kelsey Crisp on 12 Jul 2011 05:56 PM

have you walked on the plastic woodgrain laminate stuff from the box stores... get it wet and ... here ya go!!   SS could not be worse...

"The reason that duPont stopped the flooring project was not price. That had already been approved. The problem was liability. Wet Corian is as slippery as ice if you are wearing shoes. It has very good grip on bare skin but they found that slip and fall injuries could be a nightmare. They paid off the expenses of both flooring companies they were working with and halted the project. Corporate memory can be short. So I can see them touting its use for flooring again."
 
Ken


Ken:

Can you substantiate your claim?

According to DuPont, even wet, a Corian floor has a higher coefficient of friction than many stones and tile.

Joe

Kowboy,

Thank you for making me do my homework.

My information came from DuPont engineers that I know.  I noticed that the DuPont Technical Bulletin that you provided is surprisingly limited (for DuPont) in scope and detail.  Nothing is said about dynamic coefficient of friction.  That is that the coefficient of friction for an already slipping object is far less than than for something that is currently standing still.

For a more detailed look at the difficulties of measuring slip resistance you may want to look at: http://www.safetybiz.com/Sliptest.htm

None the less, It appears that DuPont is still publishing its use as flooring:

 http://www2.dupont.com/Corian/en_IT...nowhow.pdf

and the just released.

http://www2.dupont.com/Surfaces_Com...orian.html

According to these it is necessary to sand to a minimum of 120 micron to achieve the minimum acceptable slip resistance.  You and I both know that after a few weeks of use the Corian will become more polished.  At even 100 micron sanding it will not pass. 

I am still confused but I would not use it.

Ken

Interesting information.

We have informed the customer a different material will probably be a better choice.

We do allot of installs in homes that have porcelain tiles in them and if you think ss is slippery try working on porcelain that has a bit of ss dust or water on it or a drop sheet on it. The people that sell these tiles do not tell you just how slippery they are and I have not heard of any law suits regarding them. They are around 2' x 2' tiles and allot of them.

Peter, GOOD POINT.

I have made a few floors, not very big ones over the years. Mostly backlit for dancing stages and some at the entrance of shops with logos cut and filled, at shopping centres. Never had a problem.

I also had a small section on the factory floor for about 4 years for testing, we went over this with factory trolleys at some stages and it stood up well, of course it was badly scratched in the end, but could have been restored if we wanted to.

I found it less slippery than tiles but had never done a proper slip test.

Ken:

Our posts just show the value of the fabnet. Guys sitting around in cyberspace B.S.ing about their industry and we all end up learning from it.

Andy wussed out on a moneymaker, but the amount of risk with which he is comfortable is his decision and I'm glad our discussion may have assisted.

Thanks to all,

Joe

Yea, I wussed out. I wasn't prepared to accept the liability associated with such a large job. It's just to risky.

I do appreciate all the input and help.

I'll keep it in mind for future projects.

You know it is a funny thing about liability.  Companies who make flooring are generally not perceived as having deep pockets.  So lawyers are not excited about suing them. DuPont is seen to have deep pockets and needs to be more circumspect about its decisions. 

What we all know together is far more than any of s know.  Communication helps us all.

Ken