Neither. I’d suggest something interesting in a porcelain. A wood look. A stone look. A concrete tile imitation. Inkjet printed porcelain can look like anything.

Porcelain will stand up to wear and tear better than vinyl or any $1500 stained concrete job. That’s just too low a price for a quality job. Even $200 is quite low for vinyl, as there are floor prep requirements that must be done for all floors to make them flat enough.

Is this a complete basement or just a small bar area. We need more info to advise

http://s1277.photobucket.com/user/treeshouse/library/Basement?sort=6&page=1

Above link included pix of our kitchen/bar in the basement. Used ceramic floor tile. About 100 sq ft. Like the wood look tile but such wasn’t available for us.

So "floating vinyl" is out if you are planning on putting the cabinet/bar on top of the flooring. That means you have to move to a glue down installation. And that means you have to have adhesive that LIKES moisture in a basement slab (which is super expensive and tough to get right).

Once you start looking into moisture mitigation issues with vinyl in a basement setting, you quickly realize your options get really small really quick.

I suggest looking at some of the SPC Rigid Core plank floors. Those have a limestone polymer core and can handle heavier furniture than the WPC plank flooring which is a wood polymer composite. The SPC will be able to handle moisture better, but you will have to use a moisture barrier on the concrete. Republic, republicfloor.com, SuperCore WeShipFloors.com and several others make the SPC flooring. I would call and ask questions if you find one you like.

I have a follow-up question as I have a similar situation. I was told that they would put the LVT floors down after the cabinets where the flooring would go up to the cabinets. Any issue with this? In theory they could put the cabinets on LVT as long as it wasn't connected to the main tiles (meaning it could be raised to the same height)?? No?

If you have a built in cabinet, bar, etc., the LVT will have to be installed after the cabinet, and a quarter round painted or stained to match will cover the expansion gap between this cabinet and the flooring. Fixed in place cabinets should NEVER be installed on top of LVP, LVT, SPC or WPC flooring.

I do not understand your “theory” as written above.

Thanks!

I just meant - could they use completely disjoint (unattached from the main flooring) pieces under the cabinets.... or would that still be a problem. I'm not saying they would or would even want to...