[joshs]

Hi Everyone,

In the middle of planning for finishing my basement. Never had a water issue, but I know basements get wet. We will be doing a living area/bedroom/laundry room and I'm looking for one type of flooring for everything. Because of laundry room, I don't want to do carpet. I have been looking at vinyl planks. I was wondering if anyone has other recommendations. Also wondering what underlay people would recommend. Thanks for the help!

 

[willcon]

I second this query, with the added information that I have been looking at laminate flooring and will be covering existing vinyl tile over cement slab.

I assume a vapor barrier would be necessary, but what about padding or subfloor?

 

[brockmiera]

Dont use laminate in a basement. If it does get wet its a total loss.

Engineered hardwood flooring, tile, sheet vinyl. All good options.

 

[Amateuralex]

I did porcelain tile. It's not nearly as cold as everyone warned me. In fact it's barely cool, even in the middle of the winter. And we put some rugs down.

The installation was quite difficult, but I did it myself so it was free. Since I did the install myself the materials themselves were quite cheap overall. But it looks fantastic and it will last forever, and it's almost impervious to water.

 

[Canarywood1]

As previous poster stated,never use laminates in a basement,bamboo flooring is a very good choice,either solid or engineered variety,as it has very good expansion and contraction rates.

Even though bamboo is actually a grass that can be woven together and used for wood applications, it is a great alternative to hardwood flooring. It has a Janka Scale rating of 1642, which is above oak and maple and just under hickory. The scratch resistance is very high and its tensile strength rivals steel.