Basement Flooring Guide

Having a bathroom basement would certainly complete the idea of really using it as an extension of the main house, thereby putting it to better use. Undoubtedly, it adds value to your home without adding to its exteriors, thus keeping the project affordable.

As you know basements are generally dark and cold places and it’s not really encouraging to be there. So, before you add a bathroom there, you have to ensure that it would be put to use, otherwise what’s the point to invest in having a new one built. And to encourage your family to be visiting the basement it has to be given better welcoming looks. And, one way to make it more inviting is by treating its floor. The bathroom remodeling has to be done in way that the whole basement becomes a good-looking functional area.

In most of the cases the basement floor is poured concrete. Depending on the kind of overall finish of your basement, it might have been painted or left just like that. Some are provided with carpets to make it more inviting with warmer looks. But, let’s not overlook the fact that carpets are easily damaged by water, and basements are known to be humid. A carpeted basement has to be totally waterproof. Moreover, if it rains heavily, you may have water coming in the basement and that could seriously damage your carpet.

You just can’t avoid moisture in and around a bathroom. If planning to have a bathroom in the basement, it may not be the best choice to have carpets on the floor. Even if it’s there, you should have it removed. In any case you will be required to remove or remodel some part the floor to accommodate plumbing for the new bathroom. That results to having a completely new or mostly new concrete floor. Some house owners leave the flooring in basements just like that. That’s not very encouraging to start patronizing basemen so frequently that you feel the need of having a bathroom there. Let’s understand that a bare concrete floor is not encouraging the use of our bathroom and one reason is that however hard you may try, a concrete floor begins to look dirty soon after you have cleaned it.

The situation can be avoided by installing a tile, vinyl or ceramic floor. These materials result to having attractive neat floors that are not damaged by moisture or humidity. That’s a great plus for any basement material. While finalizing your choice of material for the purpose you’ll need to take consideration of your budget, the preset state of concrete floor and the final look that you would like it to give it. While thinking of colors, just keep in mind that dark colors do not really jell with the atmosphere of basements. The reason, as basements are already deprived of most of the incoming sun and are dark, needs special lighting arrangements; addition of any more dark colors will become overwhelming. You may yet use strong colors but only to accentuate certain elements.

Most of the bathrooms in the basements are quite small, compared to the ones above ground. So, you need to be more considerate about flooring of such bathrooms, as small places are difficult to clean and maintain. It would be worth spending time planning it, lest you be on your knees for its cleaning or removing mildew stains. So, choose a material that is easily cleaned.

The floor of your basement bathroom may not be the most important aspect of this project, yet it should not be overlooked. Ultimately it is the choice of flooring that finally matters to motivate people to start visiting this part of your home, and hence the new bathroom. You would be glad that you spent time considering different options before going ahead with the present one that enabled the place to have good looking inviting looks.