Basement Flooring Guide

Now that the basement construction is over, you start thinking on the lines of providing its floor with some kind of covering. It’s a usual practice, and rightly so, to finish the structural part first and then think in terms of painting, flooring and other finishing touches.

Basement flooring need a careful calculated thought, as they are prone to mildew and moisture that can be ruinous. And, what if it gets flooded for any reasons? You have to find a medium that takes care of such eventualities, yet remains affordable. One good practical solution is to use commercial carpet squares and tiles. There are many advantages to using that and make them a very logical choice for basement floor covering. Here are some good reasons that make commercial carpet tile an ideal choice for basement floorings.

1. Almost all commercial carpet tiles come with a hard rubber like material at their back. This backing material has built in characteristics to remain unaffected by water and mildew, thus making carpet tiles a perfect material for basement applications. But, perhaps the best feature of these tiles is that they can be reused even if the basement floods. The tiles can be pulled up and dried out in the sun and reaffixed on the floor after the latter has dried up completely. It’s important to add here that some of the commercial carpet tiles have built-in cushion padding and are somewhat soft. This design of tiles tends to absorb moisture while installing, and should not be used. You should insist on using the variety that has a hard stiff backing.

2. The installation of commercial carpet tiles is very easy. You just glue them down with a suitable adhesive. However, loose lay method is proven to be the best. If the tiles are installed tightly without using any adhesive, it becomes easy to pull them out in case basement gets flooded. Further, it makes so convenient to replace any tile, should the need arise. As matter of fact if the tiles were not glued, you can easily remove them and pressure wash in case of their getting dirty or stained for any reason.

3. Basement floor covering may attract a lot of foot traffic, especially if the garage is next to the finished area. Commercial carpet squares have the capacity to bear heavy traffic. The tiles that you would have often seen at the airports, hotels, and restaurants belong to this category of tiles.

4. Commercial grade carpet tiles can be exploited to get distinctive looks in a room. Basement flooring needs not be bland to remain functional. It’s quite popular to see people using 2 to 3 colors to get checkerboard or contemporary designs. The uses of different colors not only give the basement a designer look, but also hide the seams where the carpet tiles come together.

5. Usually, commercial grad carpet tiles are expensive, but you can get them at affordable prices if you go around the market and conduct a bit of a survey. There are wholesalers offering it for as low a price as $.89 per square foot or even less. That amounts to just $89 for a finished area of 100 square feet! And, if you decide to carry the installation on your own, you further save the expense of installation.

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.

One of the least visited places in your home is the basement. Basements have this stigma attached of being damp, old, dark storage place. We are reminded of its cold floors and the accompanied chillness. But, that’s the result of our own doing. Basements could be put to so many different uses, if only you made some efforts to change its appearance! The availability of modern basement floorings can help you do that. On its acquiring a better appearance you will be prompted to make better use of it. Additionally, you have to plan the role it’s going to play in your routine life. You should have fairly good idea of the purpose you intend using it for. That will help to plan better. Here are a few ideas to help you transform your cold and old basement to a warm comfortable room of your home.

Basement flooring definitely forms a part of the total design that you may have for making the place more comfortable and welcoming. Basement being a part of your home should not be neglected. On the contrary it should be put to better use, otherwise you are wasting such a valuable space under your disposal for which you certainly are paying. The same idea should be extended to the rest of your home, make optimum use of all the space in each and every room by adding some comforts therein.

Basically our mindset towards basements wouldn’t prompt us to look for alternatives for putting it to some better use. With little effort and a bit of imagination, your basement could become a nice and inviting room for the family or a place to entertain people. You may even turn it to a small personal movie theater. The walls and floor are already there. All you need to do is to have suitable seating arrangements and a welcoming ambience that may call for attractive flooring. Whatever purpose you may have in mind for this space, you would in all probability like to cover its existing flooring, which most often is concrete.

You may paint the walls to complement the flooring or else have flooring in a color of your choice and paint the walls to match its color. In case you plan to convert your basement to a family room you should have a convenient to clean flooring that is durable too. Why not go for linoleum or some kind of tiles. Carpets look nice but tend to get dirty a bit too fast. So, keep in mind the quality and volume of traffic that you may have there. The remodeled basement could well be used to entertain people. Otherwise it may well be utilized for housing game tables or a pool table.

Concrete is the most common flooring encountered in basements. You may continue with that, yet give it a new look. A good option is to apply epoxy paints. They are available in many colors and don’t cause any change in the composition of concrete. You have a choice of solid colors or you may have stains added therein to get an inviting look for basement flooring. With so many options available these days why would anyone continue having old, uninviting basement flooring?