Anonymous wrote:Cork.

It comes in a variety of styles and colors, is naturally mold/mildew resistant, recovers well from the occasional water issue (but, really, fix water issues before you put in any flooring!), warm and comfortable underfoot. We put it in last year and have been very happy, even through a problem with an overflowing washing machine. We also have an area rug in the seating area.

You've had a good experience with cork? We're considering it too.

I like our Berber carpet for basement.

I hate our Berber carpet. It snags easily, is hard to vaccuum clean, and hides pet smells and stains in a bad way. If you have pets, do not get Berber. You can't steam clean it easily yourself the way you can regular pile carpet.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I've steam-cleaned ours many times. No difference from other carpets.
I wouldn't choose it if I had cats. They do like to scratch it, and years ago when I had cats they peed a few times and the odor was very hard to get rid of. Since we're a pet-free house now, I love it. (Previous Berber enthusiast poster here.)

I had berber in a previous house's basement and liked it EXCEPT for the fact that my cats destroyed it, especially on the stairs. This house we recently installed really pretty laminate in the walk-out basement, with a waterproofing barrier under it. Super durable and easy to keep clean, which is key with the access to the yard plus the fact that it's our main play room. We have a large dog and you can't see a single dog scratch, in contrast to the solid hardwood we have throughout the rest of the house. We have a few large area rugs around too. If we ever finish out a media room in the back of the basement we'd probably do a shaggy carpet (is that what frieze is?) for the cushy factor.

Anonymous wrote:Berber is very outdated. Go with frieze.

+1. We went with frieze, because my teen children said that they wanted to be able to lay on the floor and play video games and berber was "too hard". We love the frieze; it is soft and the room seems so warm and cozy. It's also more forgiving should their be a spill and won't snag like berber.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a rancher with a walkout. We bought it with berber carpet that was apparently 5 years old and it was sooo mildewed and moldy due to the moisture from heat in the summer.

We went with hardwood and did it mid summer and the basement never once felt moldy or gross after that. We also did not have to use the dehumidifier.

Ummm, you are still going to have mold and moisture if you didn't correct the water issue.

There was no water issue. We had various other things done in the back room (i.e. raised ceiling, new drywall) which took care of it.

That doesn't make any sense, none of those things are going to fix water penetration or humidity issues.

So much for DCUM - its all over the place!

I hate our Berber carpet. It snags easily, is hard to vaccuum clean, and hides pet smells and stains in a bad way. If you have pets, do not get Berber. You can't steam clean it easily yourself the way you can regular pile carpet.

How about cork? Engineered wood?

Anonymous wrote:Don't do berber if you plan to resell soon. I agree with prior poster that it is dated and looks a bit downscale.

Disagree.

Anonymous wrote:Berber is very outdated. Go with frieze.

Frieze is ugly and looks like it's from the 70's. Berber better IMO for carpet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a rancher with a walkout. We bought it with berber carpet that was apparently 5 years old and it was sooo mildewed and moldy due to the moisture from heat in the summer.

We went with hardwood and did it mid summer and the basement never once felt moldy or gross after that. We also did not have to use the dehumidifier.

Ummm, you are still going to have mold and moisture if you didn't correct the water issue.

There was no water issue. We had various other things done in the back room (i.e. raised ceiling, new drywall) which took care of it.

We just put in regular carpet (not Berber) in our newly-remodeled basement, and love it. It's SO much warmer, and the kids love rolling around on it. Berber doesn't have that same coziness. Our basement will be our main relaxing space, too, and so we wanted a place we could feel comfortable in.

We did berber and had it for ten years. It got filthy and never looked good after about the five-year mark, even though we had it cleaned regularly. Also our kids have dust allergies and it didn't help.

When we remodeled, we put in 18" square porcelain tiles in a neutral color. We have a very large wool area rug in the TV/living area. It is easy to clean, looks nice, and is comfortable.

OP here ... its a concrete floor. House is a little over three years old, so no water issues and no pets. But I wouldn't want to deal with any trapped moisture issues in the long term.

Cork.

It comes in a variety of styles and colors, is naturally mold/mildew resistant, recovers well from the occasional water issue (but, really, fix water issues before you put in any flooring!), warm and comfortable underfoot. We put it in last year and have been very happy, even through a problem with an overflowing washing machine. We also have an area rug in the seating area.