One thing we get asked quite a bit about is what is a good flooring for a damp basement? While there are certainly some floors you could use, you are going to want to spend some time upfront trying to fix those damp issues first. If your basement is constantly getting wet and showing efflorescence on your concrete floors and walls, see if you can’t find what’s causing it first. Sometimes, it’s nothing more than hydrostatic pressure that you’ll need to find a way to alleviate, while others could simply need some good basement waterproofing sealant to close and seal it all up. Whatever it is, since we haven’t seen it and can’t really determine, find out and get it fixed.
Continuously damp basements can cause health issues due to mold and mildew deposits. While these floors won’t be damaged as much as others, it can still leave the mold and mildew problem behind and possibly just hide it until it becomes a real problem. With the water issues out of the way, a basement may still get a little damp from time to time. Knowing this, here are some ideas on getting good flooring for a damp basement.
Painted Basement Floors:
One thing you can do is simply paint the basement floor. You can use a good garage floor epoxy to get the job done plus, since it’s paint, you can get it in a multitude of different colors and shades. Going this route you wouldn’t have to worry about installing an expensive flooring in your basement only to have it ruined by your basement becoming damp from time to time. For a little added comfort, you can use throw rugs to spread about and kind of class it up a bit. Although painting is not the most glorious flooring available, it’ll definitely work.
Stained Basement Floors:
Becoming more and more popular, you could choose to pull out the natural beauty of the concrete in your basement by acid staining it. This will leave quite a striking design in the overall finish. It’ll still be a little cold to the touch in those cold winter months, but I’ve been lucky enough to see a few of these finishes and they were very nice. Staining is something that you could DIY, but just be careful. There’s a lot of fumes and acids involved so be safe and keep the ventilation going very, very well. If you really break out into it, you could even acid-etch in a cool design or family crest. Plus, the stains come in a lot of different colors as well.
Basement Carpet Tiles:
If you are looking for something that’ll keep the feet a bit warmer, you could have some basement carpet tiles installed. This will give you a much better look of a “regular” type of room. Just make sure that the carpet tiles have some kind of rubberized backing. This will help to maintain a carpet tiles lifespan especially when using it directly on a cold/damp basement floor. The good thing about this type of flooring is that manufacturing companies are coming up with new designs all the time. You could get a pretty neat flooring pattern for your basement if you take your time and search out your options. Plus, you could even go the route of remnants and one off’s that you catch one sale and mix and match your way to a basement floor that’s all your style and coordination. Not only that, if one gets damaged you can simply replace it without having to replace the entire floor.
Rubber Basement Flooring:
Gaining in popularity, these types of floors were used mainly in more industrial/commercial types of settings. Something like restraunt kitchens or office buildings. Reason being, they could be cleaned easily and effectively. But with more and more people looking for a better solution for their basement, these floors are gaining in popularity. Easily pieced together, they can also be removed for a proper cleaning, although that’s not something you are going to want to do very much.
I just want to caution you though, if your basement is damp, please get it looked at by a professional if you can’t figure out how to stop it. Even if you do, wait a while before installing any flooring in your basement after the damp issue has been corrected to ensure that it is indeed truly fixed. If you have these types of issues in your basement, I would suggest not putting down an actual flooring material and opting for one of the first two. All in all though, there’s 4 options for good flooring for a damp basement.
