Basement Laundry Room Flooring Choices
rickv100
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
What would be the perfered flooring choice for a basement laundry room/mechanical room with a sump located in the corner?
Basement is relatively dry, no visible water but damp. My idea is to install a floating floor of 1″ foam followed by 2 layers of 3/4″ plywood over the concrete floor. My understanding is that you need vapor permable materials for a basement floor.
However I do not think carpet or engineered wood flooring would be the best choice for a laundry room that might get wet.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Rick
Replies
Concrete.
How about an epoxy paint over concrete? You can get one of those garage floor kits for maybe $70 a the home centers.
I would look at the systems ment for covering a garage floor that still allows drainage from melting snow, in case you have any water penetrations from the washer piping.. Overtop that, I would put down a layer of foam, plywood, and surface it with foam or rubber tiles. Keeps the feet warm and water/damp proof.
Yup to what Dan said. It's a basement. Paint it if you like.
The floor will see water one of these years; might as well save yourself the trouble of pulling up all that soggy mess.
Is it properly sloped to the drain?
floating cork floor
The foam is a good idea, but why so much plywood? 1.5" in total is too much in my opinion.
Cork flooring that floats over the plywood subfloor is a good option for a laundry. Cork usually has a coating that will handle the occasional moisture of a laundry, and is comfortable under foot. I would avoid a glue-down cork though.
ceramic tile, quarry tile
My idea is to install a floating floor of 1" foam followed by...
My idea is to install a floating floor of 1" foam followed by 2 layers of 3/4" plywood over concrete.
Would you put tile over that?
Noppe
The tile goes on the conc floor instead of all that other
You'd better qualify the answer then............
you know, in case he finds his way back to this post.
Which I now think is doubtful as there are problems with this whole forum setup. Besides the marginal use by strangers and the usual remarks how no one is here anymore, there are confusing "instructions" when you set up your profile (not change it, but initial setup). You read all the mumbo jumbo and if you elect to do nothing-the default must be to not notify you of answers to your post.
In the old days there'd be so many new posts it'd be easy to miss yours if you didn't know where to look. The current indexing doesn't help in the least. So with no notification and a slight moving down in the order-no see um.
Yessir, a real tough thing this BT. If you didn't know what you were doing, you'd certainly have the shit confused right out of ya. In the event you looked at the FAQ's..................you'd be done for.
I'd spend your money on rubber.
http://www.rubberflooringinc.com/interlocking-tile/index.html
I'd spend it on Scotch, but he asked about floors.
My basement laundry room is concrete with a sealer that was on it when I bought the place 25 years ago. I don't know what it is but it sure held up fine.
Yeah, but since when is this about HIM??
I'd spend it on Scotch wimmen, but that's just because I like getting punched in the mouth.
Why bother? Almost anything you do will cause more problems that it's worth. Though there are some things you might consider ...
Concrete is, by definition, wet and porous. Basements are by definition wet. Your concerns are as much about bringing water in as they are about getting water out. Doing laundry just raises the stakes.
If I felt the need to do anything, I'd consider making a level platform a few inches off the floor for the machines- and I'd make sure the space under the platform had plenty of ventilation. I'd make damn sure the flloor under the machines sloped towards the sump, without the slightest dip to catch water. I'd still use a drain pan under the washer.
I worry thet you're using the sump as a drain for the washer. That may be a bad idea - sumps do not usually pump into the sanitary sewers. There's a real difference between the 'sanitary' sewer and the 'storm' sewer.
I thought for a moment about those rubber floor tiles, often sold for garage use, but then reconsidered. My concern is with water - even simple moisture coming up from the ground- becoming trapped under the rubber and going to mold. Vinyl sheet flooring can work, but it needs to be COMPLETELY glued down; and gaps in the adhesive will let mold get started.
Cork might work in your "dry" basement. Cork is porous enough to let minor amounts of moisture pass through it.
'nother vote for just leaving it concrete.
Ours is concrete, with a single coat of latex house paint (free from a garage sale) that has lasted 38 years.
Yeah, but they're cheap.