If there is even the slightest chance of water, tile. Throw rugs or flor on top. We have radiant heat under our basement tile floor, so it stays toasty in the winter.

I think anything airtight like linoleum would get mold under it from moisture coming up.

We just dealt with this.

Went with laminate (fake wood, but you cannot tell the difference) with easily cleaned throw rugs.

Anonymous wrote:OP, we just moved into a house that has laminate in the basement and we are going to either get carpet tiles or big plus area rugs. I feel like this is the best of both worlds - no carpet to rip out if there is ever a water problem, but soft, plush floors for a new walker who still falls down a lot.

Great advice. OP, please DO NOT GET CARPET INSTALLED. No matter how often you vacuum or shampoo it, it will get filthy... think juice/milk spills, puke, poop, etc.

Laminate is durable, inexpensive and soooooooo easy to clean. If you want something soft, get an area rug.

OP, we just moved into a house that has laminate in the basement and we are going to either get carpet tiles or big plus area rugs. I feel like this is the best of both worlds - no carpet to rip out if there is ever a water problem, but soft, plush floors for a new walker who still falls down a lot.

Carpet. Easiest to replace and most gentle for crawling, learning to walk, etc.

If you carpet it, get a high quality pad underneath. Concrete feels harsh and cold. (Assuming no leaking issues).

Flor tiles

I have carpet, basements can get cold in the winter. And then laminate near the doors

We went with a tile floor mainly because we'd had wet basement issues causing us to have to rip out the carpet. I didn't want to have to deal with stinky wet carpet ever again. The tile is awesome because 2yo ds can ride his trike around, he has some toy cars that work better on hard floor, and we have a nice solid flooring for setting up his trains, and spills clean up very easily. The down side is that it's such a hard surface that I worry about falls. It's also very cold to walk on all year long. If we had to do it again, and our basement was 100% dry, I'd go with a thin carpet like Berber which would still fine for riding a tricycle and scooting around on other ride-on toys and the other cars.

I would put in Berber and several interlocking gymnastics mats.

Anonymous wrote:We have Berber in part of our finished basement playroom and Marmoleum in the hallway leading to the back door. I would never put carpet near any door leading outdoors.

Marmoleum is environmentally-friendly and comes in gorgeous colors.

OP here - good point - the room we're redoing doesn't have any doors going outside. The door goes into another room which has laminate.

I would get a cheap laminate with area rug.

We have Berber in part of our finished basement playroom and Marmoleum in the hallway leading to the back door. I would never put carpet near any door leading outdoors.

Marmoleum is environmentally-friendly and comes in gorgeous colors.

We're ripping out the old carpet in part of our finished basement. DD's only 4 months old now, but I envision this room becoming a playroom for her and her eventual sibling(s). Would you do carpet or laminate (or something else)?