Advice on covering basement floor?

[anonymouse1]

When we bought our place 18 months ago, we took out the basement tiles, which left us with a splotchy concrete floor.

I'm tired of looking at this ugly floor, and want to do something to make it look better without spending that much money. The affordable options I see are: (a) basement/deck paint; big sheet of linoleum/vinyl; vinyl tiles.

The paint looks easiest and cheapest, but there are sill some stains and maybe even small bumps from the adhesive from the old removed basement tiles. And then you've got wait for the paint to dry, etc.

Sheet vinyl looks easier than tiles, and about the same price.

Thanks!

[Speedy]

Foam backed carpeting.

[mikebw]

Any water or drainage issues in the basement or is it totally dry?

[davester]

Carpeting is probably cheapest if you have no moisture issues. Note that painting the floor or using ceramic tile is probably not a good idea because the thermal conductivity of concrete and tile is very high, meaning that the floor will suck the heat out of the room and feel extremely cold to bare feet. Linoleum or vinyl with padding underneath will also work fairly well to insulate you from the cold. Of course, all this is moot if you live in the tropics.

[3d]

Put up some walls in the basement so the areas that have the boiler and storage and washer/dryer etc can stay looking basement-ey. You can then focus the budget on the future "nice" living areas of the basement.

[OWC Jamie]

grind off the glue crap
paint the floor
wait for the paint to dry

braided rug



real quick and easy: foam back carpet tiles 70ies style


real cheap: 25 watt light bulbs

[Paul F.]

If it was me, and I was trying to build a liveable space down there...
I'd build up a false floor with 2x4's and floor decking, with insulation below, and then put whatever flooring you want on top.
This assumes the concrete floor is well sealed.

[mrbigstuff]

I like the outdoor rugs that are typically sold at places like Home Depot, seasonally. they look something like turf but a much shorter pile. and they are cheap. however, they do tear and wear after time, but again, they are cheap.

[cbelt3]

In our basement, we have set down various area rugs. We use area rugs in our house on top of hardwood flooring and even some carpeted areas to help with wear and tear. So the beat up ones went into the basement.

And when the basement floods (every 5 years or so) we drag them upstairs, lay them on the driveway, hose them off and dry them on the fence.

I've never had luck with finished basements. Never.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

or maybe :useless: