Basement Flooring Ideas???

[S.D. Ice Angular]

Basement Flooring Ideas???

I recently purchased a house that is 60+ years old. It is a Block basement with many cracks in the walls. It was disclosed that it leaked and you can sure tell that is true when you see it.

What type of flooring would you guys recommend to put down to make it a little homer like during the non wet season??

On a side note:

Has anyone used a basement waterproofing service or company or at least know someone who has?

[delcecchi]

There was a thread about this. And I did my own. Thin wallet, strong back, weak mind, plenty of time.

[BoxMN]

Our place is same vintage. As long as gutters are clean, and window well covers in place on north side, we get no water. But the NW storms will fill the window wells with water, and then it will seep past the window and get basement wet. Or if gutters are clogged and it all falls next to the house, we get wet. Keep those two things good and we are dry So look for those two easy things next year. Maybe slope grade away from house if not already.

For floor, if I finish mine it will be vinyl, "just in case". Had to dry my folks old house too many times with wet basement and carpet, and any water at all will make a mess of laminate, IMHO. If you have high enough ceilings those flooring sections with rubber nubs on bottom are supposed to be good, and warmer and allow it to dry if you get water. Then laminate would probably work well. But with old house, you prolly have low ceilings and cant afford an extra loss of 1-2".

If you get a lot of water, we also dug out around foundation, put in drain tile and sump basket/pump, and popped holes into block for drainage, but that was still before floor was poured, so much easier done than after the fact.

I would work more on getting rid of water coming in, than trying to water proof from inside. Good luck!

edit - reread your note. I would use some large and comfy area rugs to help make it comfy. That is what we do in our unfinished cabin basement, and it works well. We get no water there (walkout) but area rugs or big carpet remnants work well for time being. Good luck.

[shizzy]

I would check in to having an epoxy floor put in and then as suggested use some area rugs. if it is going to or has already gotten wet, you can just pull up the rugs.

[daylate]

Check out 24"x24" stick down tiles. cheap(less than 1$ a sq foot) and easy to install and cut. you can find them at the big H or L.

[fivebucks]

If you got the time and the energy you can try and seal your walls pretty good yourself. When we bought our 1923 house the basement was a wreck. The poured concrete walls were flaking and spalling off. I scraped several garbage cans full of concrete off and cleaned it good. Menards has something called Fiberbond or something like that from a company in Maple Plain called Akona I think. I slapped that stuff on and the problem was solved as far as the walls. It is supposed to be waterproof. Might be worth looking into.

[sweept]

Google Jesse Treble foundations. I have had several customers use his service and be very satisfied.

[Surface Tension]

Start with a proper grade sloping away from the house and if you have down spouts get that water away from the house.

Since your basement is prone to getting wet. I'd be thinking an epoxy or staining treatment. There are a lot of options for colors, flakes, patterns there.

Area rugs that can be removed when things to get wet.

Vinyl flooring or peel and stick can get wet from underneath and discolor. When that water gets trapped bad things happen.