Options for Flooring in Your Basement

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To find out if there is a moisture barrier under your
concrete slab, cut a few plastic garbage bags and lay them down over a few
areas of the concrete slab. Tape them down and leave them there for a few days.
When you check on them and the underside of the bags are wet, then there is no
moisture barrier.  This will narrow down
the flooring options available to you.

 

One thing you can do to keep your flooring options open is
to waterproof your basement floor using a basement waterproofing sealant on the
floor and walls. A much more expensive option would be to install a French
drain at the basement foundation, but that is a much larger undertaking
involving excavation and PVC pipe installation.

 

If your floor does have a moisture barrier, then there are
many flooring options. You can install carpet in your basement, although carpet
is not necessarily the wisest choice for a basement. Nevertheless, it tends to
be pretty common. You can even use carpet if your floor does not have a
moisture barrier. Simply install a cellulose underlayment before you put in the
padding and carpet itself, and you will have created a moisture barrier.

 

Another basement flooring option is free floating engineered
flooring, which is great for basements. This type of floor has a foam
underlayment on which it “floats”, which aids in counterbalancing any uneven
areas in the basement floor and also acts as a sound barrier. This floor also
adapts to the varying moisture levels in the basement.

 

A third option is laminate flooring, which also floats on an
underlayment. However, this flooring requires a basement with low moisture
levels.

 

Ceramic tile can also be installed in your basement, but
they tend to be very cold when you walk barefoot on them. Low moisture is
needed or your tileÂ’s lifespan will be impacted. You also need a level floor to
install tile.

A cheap option is to just paint your basement floor, which
may be best if your floor has high moisture levels. Finally, there is hardwood
flooringComputer Technology Articles, but this is not recommended for basements.

 

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