If somebody in your house has asthma, every flooring decision comes with a second question attached: is this going to make it worse? I get asked about low-VOC flooring on estimates all the time, along with whether the carpet has to go and what the house will smell like the week we finish. The short version is that a floor can cause trouble in two ways. It can collect allergens for years, and it can give off fumes while it’s new. I’m a flooring guy, not a doctor, so the person’s allergist is the one who knows which of those matters more for them.
What Floors Collect And What They Give Off
Start with what a floor collects. Dust mites, pet dander, pollen and mold spores all end up on the floor, and every time somebody crosses the room, some of it goes back into the air. Dust mites and mold are both on the EPA’s list of common asthma triggers, and the EPA points out that mites live in carpet, mattresses and upholstered furniture.
Then there’s what a floor gives off. New flooring, glue and finish can all release volatile organic compounds, the VOCs you see mentioned on product labels. The EPA’s page on VOCs and indoor air quality says many of them run up to ten times higher indoors than outside, and it names varnishes, adhesives and building materials among the sources. Eye, nose and throat irritation and headaches are on its list of effects. For somebody whose lungs are already touchy, that’s not a small thing.
Why Hard Floors Usually Win Over Carpet
If you’re on the fence about pulling carpet, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s guide to cutting down allergens at home comes down on the side of pulling it. The guide says to pick hard-surface flooring over wall-to-wall carpet and use small washable rugs where you want something soft. The reasons it gives are the same ones I’d give you. Carpet is a home for dust mites, and it’s hard to keep dry, so mold can get going in it.
On a hard floor the dust has nowhere to hide. It sits on top, and a HEPA vacuum and a damp mop pick it up. The same guide is careful to say that hard floors aren’t all equal, though, so it’s worth knowing what yours is made of and how it handles water.
Comparing The Hard Floor Options
Solid Hardwood
Solid wood doesn’t give off much on its own. With a solid hardwood floor, nearly all of the smell comes from the finish, and you get to pick the finish. It’s easy to keep clean, too, and it’ll last for decades.
Engineered Hardwood
Engineered hardwood is real wood on top with plywood underneath. That plywood counts as a composite wood product, and since March 2019 federal rules have required composite wood (hardwood plywood, MDF and particleboard) to carry a TSCA Title VI label for formaldehyde emissions. It’s printed on the box, so check for it. Over a slab, engineered floors often get glued down, which makes the glue part of the question.
Luxury Vinyl Plank
This is the one where I’d be pickiest about the product. When I compared laminate and LVP for a Durham home, I said cheap LVP can off-gas, and the bargain stuff is the usual culprit. A well-made, certified luxury vinyl plank is a different story. It wipes clean, it doesn’t mind spills, and dust mites have nowhere to live in it. Look at the certification first and the price second.
Laminate
Laminate has a fiberboard core, and that falls under the same federal composite wood rules, so look for the TSCA Title VI label here too. It’s easy to wipe down. What it can’t take is standing water, which is why I wouldn’t put it in a bathroom or anywhere else that stays damp enough for mold to be a worry.
Tile
Porcelain and ceramic tile don’t give off anything once they’re down, and water doesn’t bother them. Grout is the weak spot. It holds dirt, and in a bathroom it can hold mildew. Keep it sealed and clean it regularly and most of that goes away. I wrote up how to do it in cleaning tile and grout in Durham’s hard water.
Labels Worth Looking For
Plenty of boxes say low-VOC. What I’d trust is an independent emissions test, and a few programs run one, most of them against the same California Department of Public Health method:
- FloorScore, from SCS Global Services, for hard-surface flooring and the adhesives and underlayment that go with it.
- GREENGUARD Gold, from UL, which covers flooring along with a lot of other building products.
- Green Label Plus, from the Carpet and Rug Institute, if you’re keeping carpet in a bedroom or two.
- TSCA Title VI, the federal formaldehyde label for composite wood, which is the one to check on laminate and engineered hardwood.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America runs its own certification too, and a handful of flooring products carry its asthma and allergy friendly mark. If you’re getting a quote from us and someone at home has asthma, ask me for the spec sheets. The certifications are on them.
Finishes And Adhesives
On a site-finished floor, the finish is where the fumes come from, so it’s the choice I’d think hardest about. Water-based finish goes on clear, dries in a few hours and barely smells. Oil-based gives you that amber tone a lot of people love, and it fills the house with fumes for days. Most of our Durham customers pick water-based now anyway, and if anyone in the house has asthma, I’ll steer you that way without you having to ask. Our post on what to expect during a refinish goes into the difference.
On one whole-house job in Durham, the family had a kid with asthma and they were sleeping in the house. Water-based was their call, and I agreed with it.
Prefinished hardwood is worth thinking about too. The finish goes on and cures at the factory, so nothing gets brushed on in your living room. In older Durham houses I usually push site-finished floors, for the reasons in site-finished versus prefinished floors. For somebody with severe asthma or a chemical sensitivity, though, keeping finish work out of the house can tip it the other way.
Glue is the other piece. Nail-down hardwood and floating floors don’t use any. When a floor has to be glued, like engineered hardwood on a slab, we use a low-VOC adhesive, and I’d pick a certified underlayment for the same reason.
Protecting The Household During The Job
Sanding dust is the first thing I think about on a refinish in a house with asthma. Our sanders hook straight into a containment vacuum, so the dust gets pulled off the drum as it’s made instead of drifting through the house. Old-school sanding leaves a film on everything and sends dust through the HVAC returns, where it keeps going around for weeks.
A few other things help. Close the HVAC returns in the room we’re working in, and change the filter when we’re done. Think about fresh air while the finish dries. That’s harder in winter, when you can’t really open the house up, so if someone has asthma, tell us and we’ll pick the finish system around it. I talk about timing in the best and worst months to install hardwood. And if someone’s asthma is severe, or they react to chemicals, a day or two somewhere else while the finish cures may be the smart move, even with water-based. I’ll tell you honestly if I think that’s your situation.
Sanding grit travels no matter what. It ends up on top of door frames and inside kitchen cabinets. On that whole-house job, our cleaning crew came in after the last coat and did the rest of the house, which is worth asking about if dust is a trigger for someone at home.
Moisture And Mold In Triangle Homes
Mold is the one trigger you can build into a floor by accident. Triangle summers are wet and sticky, and a floor that goes down over a slab nobody tested, or over a damp crawlspace, can trap moisture right underneath itself. We explain the slab moisture test in installing hardwood over a slab, and crawlspaces come up in how humidity affects hardwood floors. If you’ve already had a leak, get it dried out before mold has a chance. Water-damaged floors after a leak walks through the first 48 hours.
Keeping The Floor Allergy-Friendly
Once the floor’s in, keeping it allergy-friendly is mostly about how you clean it. Run a HEPA vacuum on the hard-floor setting, then go over it with a mop that’s barely damp. Use an unscented, pH-neutral cleaner made for your floor, and skip vinegar, steam mops and anything with a fragrance. I explain why in how to clean hardwood floors.
Washable rugs are fine where you want something soft underfoot, as long as they go through the wash often. And put a mat at every outside door. In spring, that’s a lot of pollen that never makes it past the entry.
Getting A Recommendation For Your House
If someone at home has asthma or allergies, tell me when I come out for the estimate. We’re a flooring installer based in Durham, and I’ll go through which floors and finishes make sense for your rooms and check for moisture before anything goes down. Then we plan the job around whoever’s living in the house while we work. You’ll get a written, fixed quote by email, usually within a day or two, and our hardwood flooring page has more on how we install and finish floors.
Vilchis Hardwood Floors
237 Obie Dr, Durham, NC 27713
(919) 794-1116
[email protected]
Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Serving Durham, Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, Apex, Morrisville, Garner, and Wake Forest.
Request a free in-home estimate
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The Best Flooring For Someone With Asthma?
A hard floor that’s easy to clean, put in with low-emission products. Solid hardwood with a water-based finish works. So does certified vinyl plank, and so does tile. The person’s doctor can tell you which triggers to worry about most.
Does Vinyl Plank Off-Gas?
Some does, and cheap vinyl is the usual culprit. Look for FloorScore or GREENGUARD Gold on the product you’re buying.
How Long Do Floor Finish Fumes Last?
With water-based there’s very little smell. With oil-based, plenty of people leave for two or three nights. If someone’s asthma is severe, being out of the house while the finish cures may be the better plan either way.
Should I Replace Carpet If Someone Has Allergies?
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recommends hard floors over wall-to-wall carpet, since carpet holds dust mites and moisture. If some carpet is staying, vacuum it often with a HEPA vacuum.
Mario Vilchis runs Vilchis Hardwood Floors out of 237 Obie Dr in Durham. He’s been installing and refinishing wood floors in the Triangle since 2009 and shows up to every estimate himself. Reach the shop at (919) 794-1116.
