Basement flooring advice - LVP or wood look tile

6 years ago

I'm looking for advice on wood look flooring options for my finished basement. It's about 900 sq feet and currently has a mixture of wall to wall carpet with pad and vinyl and/or laminate (not sure which). It is my family room and has a bedroom and 2nd kitchen. In the 5 years I've lived here, I've had water issues from multiple leaking appliances, tree roots in sewer causing sewer back up and most recently a few leaking foundation wall cracks which have since been repaired. The carpet and all the other laminate/vinyl flooring's got to go.

Originally I wanted Nu-Core an interlocking waterproof vinyl product sold at Floor and Decor. It sounded great, wood look, cork backing etc. but then I found out that in the event of something like a water heater spilling out gallons of water, the tile would have to be unassembled from the wall edge (under the baseboard) to the spill location, floor wiped dry and then reassembled. In other words, you can't just lift up the planks in the affected area or the edging can break off. For this reason, I decided against interlocking vinyl.

I've been getting quotes mainly on porcelain tile because I thought that was the only really waterproof option out there, but my most recent flooring guy recommended LVP - glued down.

Would the glue down LVP just allow for mopping in a situation like an appliance leak or another foundation crack? Has anyone with LVP taken in any water yet? I'm looking for the best option in the wettest "dry" basement I've lived in.

For what it's worth, I have pets with claws, no kids and my home was built in 1956.

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Comments (5)

PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Glue down, when done properly is great. Glue down vinyl when messed up is a RED HOT MESS. The skill of the installer and the adhesive used and the subfloor prep are all MASSIVE question marks when it comes to a basement with issues.

Personally I would float (even loose lay) something and just keep going. The cork backing prevents wet vinyl from being reused. The cork can grab odours/mildew = needs to be tossed and new planks (from the 3-5 extra boxes you purchased just for that reason) set down.

Porcelain tile will take HUGE amounts of prep...but it will make it through standing water.
nesting67
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for your response Stephanie. The quote I got today for Porcelain install was $10-$11 per sq ft. Ouch! Some of the loose lay products (like Karndean) are beautiful but also expensive. I will have to keep looking.
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PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
6 years ago
Absolutely NORMAL! The age of the house = expensive to put flooring in the basement. Age of the house = expensive to fix all the problems you have run into.

The problems you have = EXTRA expensive to install a floor that will survive standing water.

Sorry but your situation = very expensive. There is no getting around it. And if you think loose lay are expensive, wait until you see the cost of glue down vinyl! The choices are:

1. Go SUPER expensive; do ALL the preparation NEEDED (that includes the $5/sf moisture mitigation for the slab AND the foundation walls); add more concrete and then lay any floor you want so that you no longer have any concerns.
1. Go SUPER CHEAP = couldn't care less if the floor gets ruined. You simply buy a new one and keep going.
Option #1 will cost 3-7 TIMES more expensive than option #2. That means you can replace the SUPER cheap floor 3-7 TIMES before you "hit" the price tag for the "FULL FIX".

If loose lay vinyl is getting too pricey, then I would say option #2 just became your best friend.
PRO
WeShipFloors
6 years ago
I think I would go the acid stained concrete route if it were me.
PRO
Carpet One Floor & Home Belleville
6 years ago
There are other looselay products from companies like Beaulieu, Drop & Done and Twelve oaks which do cost a bit less than Karndean. Although Karndean Looselay floor has very nice graphics.

You can also stop by some nearby flooring stores and see if they have looselay planks in stock - usually companies will buy a large quantity at once and be able to sell them for a bit of a discount too.

Best of luck!