Almost any kind of flooring is okay to install in a below grade basement.
Best type of flooring for basement.
Vinyl flooring also known as resilient flooring ranks with concrete and ceramic tile as one of the better basement flooring options vinyl flooring comes in both sheet or tile plank form and there is a subtle difference.
Most properly installed types of flooring can stand up to damp conditions and high humidity.
But it doesn t fit with every décor and isn t warm to the touch.
The best floor covering for your basement is no covering at all.
Best basement flooring options.
Polished and sealed concrete is waterproof incredibly wear resistant and cheap to install.
Carpet is a great floor covering option for a finished basement for several reasons.
Luxury vinyl plank or lvp is easily the best choice if your floor needs to withstand years of hard usage.
It is at this point that the question of what is the best floor to install in your basement becomes more easily answered.
When it comes to choosing basement flooring there s good news.
They come in a wide variety of colors and patterns that closely imitate various types of wood flooring.
Manufactured in planks with interlocking edges basement suitable engineered wood flooring comes with a durable factory applied finish.
Luxury vinyl plank is the king.
Sheet vinyl flooring creates a nearly seamless water impervious surface on your basement floor always a good thing where moisture might be involved.
Finally we get to talk about the king of basement flooring.
Carpet is warm soft and cushioned making it ideal for covering the cold cement floor.
Luxury vinyl plank flooring looks more like hardwood or tile than ever before.
Always install basement carpet on top of a vapor impervious subfloor this will raise the temperature of the floor in winter make your carpet more pleasant to walk on and most importantly prevent humid air from cozying up to the concrete and triggering mold growth.
I need to warn you about some flooring types you would want to avoid in the basement.
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.
Exceptions are solid hardwood flooring and laminate flooring made.
Sheet vinyl flooring.
In addition carpet is one of the most flexible floor covering materials so even if your cement floor is not perfectly level carpet can be installed right over it.
Most types have a thickness of or less.
This is a fancy durable moisture proof and informal floor that makes good sense for basements especially.
And i will warn you that some sites actually recommend these floors clearly they are written by freelance writers and not flooring experts.
Once they re installed in your basement you ll be hard pressed to tell the difference between them and real hardwood.