Basement flooring - engineered wood, tile, or carpet?

[Anonymous]

We just moved into a house in DC that seems to have a history of some water issues. It was lived in by renters for years, and the gutters were completely clogged. We're having waterproofing companies come do their thing - and once they're finished, we plan to finish the basement out.

The question is - should we go with engineered wood, tile, or carpet? (Or some other flooring material)? Tile seems the best for the potential of future water intrusion - but seems like it'd be cold in the winter. Engineered wood could be the middle ground? We're a little fearful of carpets in a basement - though it'd help smooth out any non-level parts of the slab.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

I would wait about a year before finishing the basement. Or at least wait through several good floods to make sure. I'd do engineered wood if it was me. Or tile with good area rugs.

[Anonymous]

If you can't wait I'd do tile.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the suggestion to wait a while before you finish. We did engineered wood on the first floor of our duplex (slab construction) and were not crazy about it. It was glue down, and I think the installers did not properly level the slab, so over the years we had problems with air pockets developing under parts of the flooring. I would look for a floating option (like a pergo) or do tile.

[Anonymous]

Don't put anything directly on the concrete slab. Put in a subfloor and then put in whatever you want on top of that. It will be much warmer.

[Anonymous]

Don't do a click-style floor. Water would ruin it.
Tile with radiant heat underneath would be a good option.

[Anonymous]

engineered wood is still real wood, but it has plywood on the bottom to keep it stable. I don't think it'd do well with water though...

do you mean laminate wood?

[Anonymous]

We are doing a basement with wood grain porcelain tile. It looks just like wood yet no moisture issues. It's also inexpensive, although we are finding the installation estimates to be pricey. We aren't heating it but you could do radiant heat (although not sure how that works with moisture issues).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can't wait I'd do tile.

+1

water damage . . . Engineered wood will rot, as will carpet.

[Anonymous]

The engineered wood may also be prone to warping with humidity.

Tile with nice area rugs will be fine.

Or skip the tile and stain the floor with a sealer. We just did this in our basement. Stripped the ancient paint of the floor, smoothed and patched rough patches, primed, then sealed with a clear coat of something. Looks great, lots of nice pebbles embedded in the original concrete. Then we put a few rugs around. The floor was never that cold in winter, it is the outside walls that get coldest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are doing a basement with wood grain porcelain tile. It looks just like wood yet no moisture issues. It's also inexpensive, although we are finding the installation estimates to be pricey. We aren't heating it but you could do radiant heat (although not sure how that works with moisture issues).

This is what we have and I love it. Looks like wood, wears like tile.

[Anonymous]

Engineered hardwood is a bad idea, it is still closer to hardwood in the way it handles moisture : I was hoping to put that in my super dry walk out basement with no history of moisture but all the experts tell me that even when there is no obvious moisture (which is not your case), the humidity vapor emanating from the floor can be enough to ruin the floors...

I then hesitated between wood looking luxury vinyl plank and wood looking tiles, I thought I would hate both and now I find both options surprisingly good looking. I was opposed to tile because of coldness but some of the wood looking tiles are simply stunning, with area rugs I think it will look perfect. Now leaning towards the more costly tile option..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are doing a basement with wood grain porcelain tile. It looks just like wood yet no moisture issues. It's also inexpensive, although we are finding the installation estimates to be pricey. We aren't heating it but you could do radiant heat (although not sure how that works with moisture issues).

This is what we have and I love it. Looks like wood, wears like tile.

Can either apap recommend brand and where you bought it from. Any idea if there is a "peel and stick" version of these?

[Anonymous]

Apap = PP. Autocorrect