[jacksonpt]

I know there are some good DIYers around here, not to mention a few contractors/builders...

I'm hoping to put the final touches on my basement soon, and that means some type of flooring. I have 2 primary concerns as I try to decide on flooring. 1) My basement opens into the back yard, and with 2 kids and 2 dogs, I'm sure more than a little dirt/mud/etc is going to be tracked in. 2) There are a couple of places where the floor isn't perfectly flat - don't wory about why, just know that there are 2 or 3 places (about 1' x 1' each) that are slightly higher than the rest of the floor.

I like the comfort of carpet, especially in a basement... but keeping it clean could be a nightmare (see concern #1). Laminate is nice, even if it is laminate. I worry about how well it will lay near those couple of spots where the floor isn't perfectly level. Tile is great, but cold. I also wonder how it would do with the uneven floor.

Any suggestions?


Here are the estimates I've gotten...

Carpet, including a good, heavy pad:
I couldn't do it, so I'd have to pay to have it installed: $2200

Laminate, including a vapor barrier backing
$1750 if I install it, $3700 to have it installed

Ceramic Tile
$1400 if I install it, $4700 to have it installed

I'm really leaning towards the laminate, and doing it myself. I just want to have someone look at my floor and tell me that it will lay just fine over the uneven areas. An area rug would be an added cost, but well worth it in the long run, IMO.

 

[TreeSaw]

I would go with the laminate. We have wall-to-wall carpeting and will be replacing it my office & the dining room with the Laminate (that will be going on sale VERY soon at Home Depot). It's got a great warranty and you should be able to do it yourself very easily.

 

[stosh]

Depending on the laminate you put down you may want to lay sleepers first.

If you are doing a true laminate and not pergo typically sleepers are the way to go with a concrete floor in which case you wouldn't have to worry about the concrete floor imperfections .

If you are doing pergo or a flooring like that they use a pad below the pergo which could also help with floor imperfections depending on how bad they imperfections are.

Also you go do partial laminate or pergo and the rest in carpet.

 

[geargrrl]

we ripped up some old carpet last winter and put down 600 ft2 of Wilsonart 25 year wood laminate. I LOVE it.

1. we had some uneven spots, where the kitchen floor met the DR. No problem laying it out.

2. You can see the dirt (!!!) but with a dustmop and an occasional vacuum around the edges, it's much easier to keep clean. It's also much easier to keep clean when you can see the dirt/dog hair/crud everywhere. I'd much rather run a dust mop for 5 minutes every other morning than vacuum, and it stays much cleaner.

3. Go for the best grade foam underlay, it will really help with the noise control.

I have two big teens, plus we had a big hairy dog. I'd take the laminate over carpet any day, and can't wait to do the rest of the house.

Quality is important. You really get what you pay for. My pro flooring friends will not touch the Costco stuff. We got a very good price on our flooring from internetfloors.com

 

[N8 v2.0]

Get a good laminate.

It lays down pretty easily and looks great and wears even better!

Plus, it is hella warmer than tile in the winter.

My flooring subs charge me the same amount (material + labor) to install ceramic tile or laminate... which is about $7.50_sf.

This is using a midgrade lam from Mohawk usually.

 

[N8 v2.0]

2. You can see the dirt (!!!) but with a dustmop and an occasional vacuum around the edges, it's much easier to keep clean. It's also much easier to keep clean when you can see the dirt/dog hair/crud everywhere. I'd much rather run a dust mop for 5 minutes every other morning than vacuum, and it stays much cleaner.

spend $25 at Wal-Mart/Target and get a Swifter Vac... best thing for lam and tile floors.

You will wonder how you ever lived with out it!

 

[DRB]

I put down pergo in our old house over a crappy tile job that was uneven without a problem. We used the heavier pad and it evened out a bunch of crap without issue.

The only issue doing it myself was the door jabs. I ended up renting a saw that did it but still I screwed the first one up but once I got the hang of it no issues. It held up well and looked decent. It only took about 9 hours to do it all by myself.

Maybe for the areas around the basement enterance you could put down tile just for the durability but I don't think you'll need it. Also you can get carpet reminants fairly cheap for areas around sofas and sitting areas.

 

[binary visions]

We're putting down Pergo in the new house. My dad refinished his entire downstairs with it and it looks awesome.

The only thing to keep in mind is that I've been warned by several people that laminate can't be refinished. There are tubes of repair gunk that will help you repair stuff, but the fact is that once your dogs have dug it up enough, you'll have to replace the parts that are damaged.

Just something to consider with two dogs and two kids... I'm sure some of the other guys here might be able to tell you just how much of a concern it may or may not be - Jenn and I didn't care since kids aren't an issue and when we get a dog it probably won't be a huge one.

 

[N8 v2.0]

I put down pergo in our old house over a crappy tile job that was uneven without a problem. We used the heavier pad and it evened out a bunch of crap without issue.

...not to dis ya, but Pergo (as a brand) is pretty much a lower end laminate. I don't use it myself. But the brand has mega public recognition.

One thing you need to remember with a laminate floor is that you need to use 1/2" quarter-round at the baseboard to hide the gap between the lam and the walls. Regular base shoe is too small. Remember lam needs some room for expansion and contraction so a gap is nessessary.

Most good laminates carry a 50 year warrenty, and I've sold homes to people with dogs and kids and a good laminate is freekin' tough!

 

[DRB]

...not to dis ya, but Pergo (as a brand) is pretty much a lower end laminate. I don't use it myself. But the brand has mega public recognition.

One thing you need to remember with a laminate floor is that you need to use 1/2" quarter-round at the baseboard to hide the gap between the lam and the walls. Regular base shoe is too small. Remember lam needs some room for expansion and contraction so a gap is nessessary.

It wasn't pergo but I just call it that. It was armstrong or something. Its been several years.

 

[H8R]

Polypropylene tiles.

http://www.racedeck.com/

 

[jacksonpt]

One thing you need to remember with a laminate floor is that you need to use 1/2" quarter-round at the baseboard to hide the gap between the lam and the walls. Regular base shoe is too small. Remember lam needs some room for expansion and contraction so a gap is nessessary.

you're talking about baseboard molding, right? I didn't think about that...

 

[jacksonpt]

Just something to consider with two dogs and two kids...

my dogs only weigh 20lbs each, so I don't think they'll be too hard on it. Dog hair is my primary concern, not acutal damage from them.

 

[jacksonpt]

spend $25 at Wal-Mart/Target and get a Swifter Vac... best thing for lam and tile floors.

You will wonder how you ever lived with out it!

yep - we have A LOT of tile and some hardwood on the main floor - I'll be investing in something like that very soon. I'm tired of sweeping every day and only getting half the dog hair.

 

[jacksonpt]

Depending on the laminate you put down you may want to lay sleepers first.

Also you go do partial laminate or pergo and the rest in carpet.

what are sleepers?

the stairs will likely be carpet, the rest of the basement will be whatever I decide - at this point, I'm liking the sound of laminate.

 

[N8 v2.0]

you're talking about baseboard molding, right? I didn't think about that...

The base shoe/quarter round is what covers the gap between the lam/tile and the base board.

Base shoe is taller than it is wide; good for tile floors.

Quarter round is wide on the bottom and as tall as the base shoe; good for lam floors where you need a wide expansion gap.

 

[N8 v2.0]

yep - we have A LOT of tile and some hardwood on the main floor - I'll be investing in something like that very soon. I'm tired of sweeping every day and only getting half the dog hair.

The Swiffer is very kid friendly too.

 

[jacksonpt]

The base shoe/quarter round is what covers the gap between the lam/tile and the base board.

Base shoe is taller than it is wide; good for tile floors.

Quarter round is wide on the bottom and as tall as the base shoe; good for lam floors where you need a wide expansion gap.

Gotcha. I may also use that to hide some speaker wire, as I didn't have the basement pre-wired.

 

[Jeremy R]

Yeah, N8's pics just reminded me.
Buy quarter round to begin with or you can be like me.
Buy shoe mold, paint it where you cannot take it back,
and then find out that it will not cover the gaps in your hardwood floor and now you have to go buy quarter round and paint it as well.

Anyway, I have no idea if you want to go this route, but I will tell you what we did in my bike/work room for a floor.
It was 30/12 foot concrete floor.
I was having a hard time finding a checkerboard floor what I wanted.
Then, we found this vinyl floor made for concrete and you do not have to use adhesive. We bought it in the exact size of the room, rolled it out, trimmed around the edges, "tucked" it in, and then put up quarter round around it. I love it, it is kind of thick feeling, and has a "give" when you stand on it.
The whole roll cost us less than $600 and it was easy to do yourself.

 

[biggins]

screw it all and go bamboo......i love this stuff...we are laying it down in all the houses we do....sorry its a kitchen pic...the pther pics were monstrous and i didnt feel like resizing then re-uploading them

(note the fatty fat copper counter tops)

 

[dante]

I prefer wood floor, but sometime's a well-trimmed.... uh, nevermind, wrong discussion.

 

[Westy]

Yeah, N8's pics just reminded me.
Buy quarter round to begin with or you can be like me.
Buy shoe mold, paint it where you cannot take it back,
and then find out that it will not cover the gaps in your hardwood floor and now you have to go buy quarter round and paint it as well.

Anyway, I have no idea if you want to go this route, but I will tell you what we did in my bike/work room for a floor.
It was 30/12 foot concrete floor.
I was having a hard time finding a checkerboard floor what I wanted.
Then, we found this vinyl floor made for concrete and you do not have to use adhesive. We bought it in the exact size of the room, rolled it out, trimmed around the edges, "tucked" it in, and then put up quarter round around it. I love it, it is kind of thick feeling, and has a "give" when you stand on it.
The whole roll cost us less than $600 and it was easy to do yourself.

Is that the stuff intended for garage floors? I'm thinking about putting it in my basement which is semi finished and has some nasty ass carpet in it. Basement is basically a bike shop/kennel/workout room so nothing really nice is required.

 

[N8 v2.0]

screw it all and go bamboo......i love this stuff...we are laying it down in all the houses we do....sorry its a kitchen pic...the pther pics were monstrous and i didnt feel like resizing then re-uploading them

(note the fatty fat copper counter tops)

Yeah, I am looking for a project to use bamboo on now.

Nice kitchen...

Copper countertops; looks cool new, but not sure I'd dig it if I had to live with them... because they are going to get really funky looking with use and age and not in a good way in my personal opinion.

 

[Transcend]

I'd go laminate. Easy to wipe up and nearly indestructable with the good stuff. We just put it down in our kitchin/dining room and it looks fantastic.

Just make sure that you lay the boards WITH the light. IE: if you have a big window, do NOT lay the boards so that they are perpendicular to the windows. The seams will show up when the light hits them and they create shadows.

 

[geargrrl]

yep - we have A LOT of tile and some hardwood on the main floor - I'll be investing in something like that very soon. I'm tired of sweeping every day and only getting half the dog hair.

I have personal value issues with disposable items ( swiffer refills etc) Give me a good old dustmop that I can toss in the wash, thank you very much.

 

[N8 v2.0]

I have personal value issues with disposable items ( swiffer refills etc) Give me a good old dustmop that I can toss in the wash, thank you very much.

I just trashed our first Swiffter, battery and all, to the landfill... and bought a new one...

 

[jacksonpt]

I haven't had good luck with swiffer type products... they leave too much crap in the cracks of the hard wood and in the grout lines in the tile.

I'll be getting a light "stick-vac" similar to the swiffer vac thing, minus the swiffer part.

 

[DRB]

I just trashed our first Swiffter, battery and all, to the landfill... and bought a new one...

awesome.....

 

[N8 v2.0]

awesome.....

god i love Freedom!!!

 

[Jeremy R]

Is that the stuff intended for garage floors? I'm thinking about putting it in my basement which is semi finished and has some nasty ass carpet in it. Basement is basically a bike shop/kennel/workout room so nothing really nice is required.

I would not think you could use this for a garage floor, because it is probaly not much tougher than regular vinyl, but for your purpose it seems like it would work well.

 

[DRB]

god i love Freedom!!!

If you had beat an animal to death with it that would have been double awesome.

 

[geargrrl]

I just trashed our first Swiffter, battery and all, to the landfill... and bought a new one...

so, that lasted you a year or so? $25 once a year, plus how many refills at how much per box?, or, a nice dustmop one time purchase, $15, no refills, lasts 10-15 years....

At least that's how I look at it. :biggrin:

 

[DRB]

so, that lasted you a year or so? $25 once a year, plus how many refills at how much per box?, or, a nice dustmop one time purchase, $15, no refills, lasts 10-15 years....

At least that's how I look at it. :biggrin:

Did you notice that slight tugging sensation?

 

[N8 v2.0]

so, that lasted you a year or so? $25 once a year, plus how many refills at how much per box?, or, a nice dustmop one time purchase, $15, no refills, lasts 10-15 years....

At least that's how I look at it. :biggrin:

No, no... I the Swiffter A LOT... minimal duty to clean my lam floors... it is used commercially to clean the floors of my new homes.

It's so handy! I figure that under normal home use it should last ya at least 3-4 years or so.

It cleans better and faster than a dust mop and refills for the pads are damn cheap... of course you can always wash them and reuse them, but I ain't gonna do it.

I bought on for my Ma last summer and she loves it. She hated the dust mop which usually just redistributes the dirt on the floor.

 

[geargrrl]

the new microfiber ones pick up crap really well. And if you use something like Endust, it's cake. Oh, wait a minute, throw away aerosol can, must be replaced....heh heh, never mind....

I think you just made a sale.