Today we look at a few basement floor finishing options, with a definite prejudice towards those products offering a clean, sleek, and durable finishand with further preference given to those floorings that provide an easier manor of install for the moderately skilled do-it-yourselfer.

The recommended basement products of choice will be luxury vinyl tile (LVT), stone plastic composite (SPC), and the Dreamfloor collection of laminate flooring.

Notable products left off the list of potential basement options include ceramic tile and carpeting.

I dont like ceramic in the basement because youre basically installing something thats cold and rock hard, over concrete, resulting in a playing and living surface that offers zero impact forgiveness. Plus, cutting, fitting, gluing, then grouting the ceramic joints takes a relatively elevated skillset, a prerequisite we were hoping to avoid.

I avoid promoting carpet as a basement alternative, because I would rather our clientele not suffer a slow, lingering death due to mould, dust mites, and whatever other godforsaken creatures might be found nesting in carpet fibres.

Regardless of my slanted opinion, an article in a most recent edition of Home Improvement Retailing stated wall-to-wall carpeting, and for some reason, black luster kitchen cabinetry, were going to be two popular trends heading into the 2020s. In a related article, the Acme toy people are looking to reintroduce lawn darts and clacker balls to their summer-fun series of backyard toys.

My fear, and my theory, regarding the re-marketing of products best left in a time vault, especially the push to reintroduce carpeting as a viable flooring option, is that were living with a case of generational mismanagement. Essentially, the decision makers of the 1970s, who besides carpeting, introduced society to bell-bottomed jeans, polyester suits, the Hee Haw Honeys TV show, and the AMC Gremlin automobile, now have middle-aged children that have succeeded them in their marketing careers, presently making the same ill-conceived product decisions their parents made 50 years ago.

My suggestion: listen to your gut feeling, and always ask questions because if black cabinetry and carpeting are the supposed next best thing, I think the next 10 years is going to produce a slew of bad ideas.

Back in the basement, whether youve chosen to install a subfloor or not, a Dreamfloor laminate, SPC, or LVT floor are my choices of preferred flooring products.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so as far as which of the three products is the most attractive lies entirely on taste, since the texture and woodgrain features of each are relatively similar.

The LVT flooring does however offer a series of ceramic tile patterns, for those wanting a tile look, but with the cushion effect of a vinyl floor. For under $2 per square foot, the 12-millimetre Dreamfloor laminate is a great value, with its drop-click installation procedure as uncomplicated as you can get, while carrying a 35-year residential, five-year commercial warranty period.

Laminate products will need a foam underlay, with foam underlays differing based on the concrete floor conditions, or plywood underlay situation. So, be sure to discuss the basement conditions with your flooring retailer before choosing a foam underlay.

SPC floors are essentially a limestone/PVC composite, along with a foam backing fixed to the underside of each plank. As a result, the SPC plank works independently, and is ready to install directly over concrete, or a plywood subfloor, without the need of having to first lay an underlay foam. Selling for $2.50 to $3 per square foot, the SPC floor is a drop-click, 5.5-millimetre product, or about half the thickness of a quality laminate floor.

However, SPCs are every bit as tough as a laminate, offering a 30-year residential, 10-year commercial warranty package. The bonus, or advantage, of the thinner SPC is that its somewhat pliable in nature, which allows the SPC product to conform to those slight irregularities often found in concrete floors.

Next week, LVT flooring.

Good building.

See more here:
Handyman Hints: Final words on those basement floors - Brockville Recorder and Times

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February 26, 2020 at 7:46 pm by Mr HomeBuilder
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