Basement flooring suggestions, please!

irobot

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After a year of working I am just about done with my basement remodelling job.

I am trying to control the potential for mold by using XPS insultaion on the exterior walls and avoiding carpet as much as possible.

There is an office, an arcade, a TV room, and two walk-in closets.

I am going to carpet the TV room with a berber carpet.

There are two walk-in closets I'm going to probably use floor paint or some heavy linoleum on.

I haven't decided what to use in the office or arcade yet.

I was thinking about using a vinyl tile or maybe ceramic for the arcade.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
If you do not have moisture issues with your floor, you could try
concrete stain or use an epoxy coated resin like they use on high
end garage builds, can buy it in kits and do it yourself.
 
If you do not have moisture issues with your floor, you could try
concrete stain or use an epoxy coated resin like they use on high
end garage builds, can buy it in kits and do it yourself.

Someone here did an awesome epoxy job on their basement arcade floor. If I remember correctly they laid down a layer of black epoxy, then painted using pac man shaped stencils, then put a clear layer on top to seal it. Came out looking cool as hell and a nigh indestructible flooring.
 
I believe Gorfchampion also epoxied his basement, very nice. Lets see if he chimes in here....
 
I wouldn't worry too much about mold. Do you have a wet basement? Has it been flooded previously? If not, just throw a couple of dehumidifiers down there and you should be just fine.
 
I would go with a nice cherry flooring. It would go nicely with any Pac Man games.
 
Try Dri-Core. It will take 7/8" away from the total height of the room though.

I did Dri-Core in the two bedrooms that are in my walk-out basement, then installed underlay and carpeting on top. It really insulates the floor from the cold concrete underneath, and makes the whole room feel nicer. I don't know if Dri-Core would really be necessary in an arcade, unless you have moisture problems, but it does add a 'coziness' to basement rooms.
 
I did Dri-Core in the two bedrooms that are in my walk-out basement, then installed underlay and carpeting on top. It really insulates the floor from the cold concrete underneath, and makes the whole room feel nicer. I don't know if Dri-Core would really be necessary in an arcade, unless you have moisture problems, but it does add a 'coziness' to basement rooms.

I was going to do dricore in my basement.... until I discovered I had heated floors :)
 
If you want to go the stain route, the cheapest is to stain it with iron sulphate. Depending on the concentration it will turn out orange to red and by mixing in coffee you can make it a darker red to brown. Even though it is iron, it is not something you want to breath so proper protection is needed. I stained mine with a mixture of coffee and iron sulphate. I went for a blotchy look. Then sealed it and put on coats of floor finish.

The iron sulphate was about $15 which is enough to do several thousand square feet. The floor finish was under $20. The sealer was around $150. I did about a thousand square feet for that with enough extra to do the other thousand when I get done with the rest of the first part. You'll also need something to apply it with (brush or roller), paint tray, etc. I can post more details if interested.
 
What about installing a pre finished floating floor from Ikea or possibly using bamboo (really cheap and softer underfoot, good insulator. It wouldn't be terribly expensive and if you don't have a water seepage concern it might be a decent alternative to concrete.
 
I believe Gorfchampion also epoxied his basement, very nice. Lets see if he chimes in here....


Hey, you remembered! I originally laid sticky tile down back in 2001, and regretted it almost right away. Even with an immaculately prepared floor it would never be as nice as epoxy.

After some light flooding in 2007, about 25% of the tile lifted and another 75% started to mold. I had to tear it all up. Not fun! My basement has only flooded twice in 30 years; so don't think you'll never get water in your basement. Lay something that is water resistant!

I replaced the tile with garage grade epoxy(they didn't have red in basement grade). About 700 sq. ft.; cost me around $180. It looks great, its indestructable and has held up perfectly. It smells really bad, you have to wear a respirator when applying it. I laid the edges and corners with a brush, and rolled the rest on with a regular paint roller attached to a lengthy handle so I could stand and apply it. The stuff insulates the floor nicely, too. I can walk around down there in socks and not get cold feet. With the tile I had to wear shoes....

Here's some random pics starting in 2008...
 

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I did Dri-Core in the two bedrooms that are in my walk-out basement, then installed underlay and carpeting on top. It really insulates the floor from the cold concrete underneath, and makes the whole room feel nicer. I don't know if Dri-Core would really be necessary in an arcade, unless you have moisture problems, but it does add a 'coziness' to basement rooms.

Awesome. You are the first person I met that has used the stuff. I am going with it not just as added protection, but also the warmth factor.
 
I have been researching this for years and years since I have a basement that has flooded twice and I'm trying to find the perfect solution for the least amount of money.

Here's what my research has told me about dri-core so far.

Pros:

- Warmth factor
- Moisture barrier protecting your floor from the porous concrete
- Nice even regular plywood like floor surface
- Holds up well with heavy object being moved around on it (nice for arcade games)

Cons:

you lose 1" of ceiling height

If you get a flood that makes it up into the wood part of the dri-core you are looking at some problem. The older Dri-core had cups on the bottom which hold water if it comes in from the top side. The design has been changed to a star pattern but they are still hollow. The star design is better but the hollow star pattern will still hold water which is not good.

I also had the Basement Systems people come and give me an estimate. Of course it was way to much. I was interested in their completely plastic version of dri-core that doesn't hold water, but I've heard many horror stories about the tiles popping up and shifting when dragging around heavy weight.

I'm looking at this since it's cheaper, provides a moisture barrier, warmth etc. I'd most likely have to replace the carpet if I get a flood but that would be the case with anything I use for the sub-floor anyway.
http://www.superseal.ca/all_in_one_subfloor.html
 
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