Best Flooring For Concrete Basement

The best way to install ceramic tile in a basement is directly over a concrete slab.

Best flooring for concrete basement.

Manufactured in planks with interlocking edges basement suitable engineered wood flooring comes with a durable factory applied finish. For added protection even though ceramic holds up well against water you can install a water barrier layer between the subfloor and your tiles. A concrete basement slab is porous and prone to moisture and water vapor migrating up through the slab. Most types have a thickness of or less.

Vinyl flooring comes in both sheet or tile plank form and there is a subtle difference. But that doesn t mean basements are trouble free. This matters because even seemingly dry basements can have enough moisture vapor migration to trigger mold growth. Engineered vinyl planks or tiles so first let me say that engineered vinyl planks are usually my first choice flooring for basements because it looks like hardwood flooring and it s waterproof.

Laminate floors which may be tongue and groove or snap together are floating floors and not attached to the subfloor. Flooring choices for basements. Unlike exterior sealants that penetrate the concrete with uv protection while still allowing breathability interior types create a film over the top. If the concrete subfloor is always dry however laminate floors can be placed directly on the slab.

Although some manufacturers sell engineered wood flooring that can go down over a concrete floor it s better to install this type of flooring over a subfloor. Many basement concrete slabs are cold underfoot especially during the winter. Vinyl flooring also known as resilient flooring ranks with concrete and ceramic tile as one of the better basement flooring options. Best flooring for concrete basement sealed and polished concrete make unsurpassed floors for your basement.

That leaves you a lot of basement flooring options such as ceramic tile engineered wood rubber and laminate flooring made with a moisture resistant plywood core. First vpf and vtf are impervious to liquid and vapor moisture. Vinyl plank flooring vpf and vinyl tile flooring vtf are similar to click laminate flooring but they re better in three ways. If you have a damp basement it is recommended to lay a vapor barrier between the concrete slab and the planks.

This is a possible basement flooring project you can diy. If you use a plywood subfloor you risk the plywood warping if water does end up reaching it. The best interior concrete sealer is a film forming sealant like epoxy or acrylic. The planks themselves won t get damaged by moisture but mildew can grow on the bottom of them.