Concrete basement floor (seal it?) (flooring, vinyl, dehumidifier, foundation)

[NC211]

So, we are replacing our carpet in our basement as part of an impromptu need from a partial water incident. I have pulled some up and cleaned up the concrete (which was nasty). Going to remove all of it soon to get ready for new.

Basement is 100% below grade with a walkout entrance.

Question on what type of carpet pad to use, and what extra-steps (if any) can I do to the concrete floor to make it even better? Obviously going to clean the heck out of it and especially under the baseboards to get ready for the new stuff. I plan on fixing the hairline cracks as I find them (it is 20 years old now, totally expect to find some).

Can I seal the concrete with a poly too? Paint it with Killz? Anything like that?

I don’t want to damage it by “locking in” anything if it’s supposed to be able to “breathe” naturally. I know humidity changes occur down there, we run a dehumidifier in general.
The foundation is serviced by a sump pump system.

Current carpet appears to be from 2008. Our carpet guy looked at the existing pad and instantly knew when it was manufactured and also knew the carpet type/manufacturer as well (Mazen carpet). All that is there now is the pad (8lb antimicrobial) and carpet, on bare concrete. No plastic sheet or anything like that.

Thanks!

[Rickcin]

Yes, it’s definitely better to thoroughly seal a concrete slab on grade prior to installing carpet or a wood flooring system. The sealer will mitigate some of the vapor and moisture that would pass through the concrete from the soil substrate.

There are many good sealers available and I’d advise you take a look and do some reading on line to determine which product to purchase and apply.

[galaxyhi]

We had a loosely enclosed former screened in porch behind our garage.

We finished the insulation, walls, ceiling and updated the electric and added an electric heat strip.

But to finish the floor for carpeting, i knew we had to had to do something to the concrete floor.

We bought and applied concrete sealer, then painted it. We originally used throw rugs, but decided that we wanted full carpeting.

Since the door opens into the room, a pad won't work, so we bought a commercial grade carpet with resin backing designed to go right on concrete in a commercial application.

3 years later, no problem.

You might want a pad for comfort.

But yes buy a few gallons of concrete sealer "paint " and seal that sucker before you put down new carpet.
You dont want moisture buildup underneath either the carpet or pad and carpet.

Its designed to keep moisture from transferring through the concrete floor OR walls.

Best of luck to you...

[cp102]

Instead of carpet have you thought about luxury vinyl planks? https://www.bestlaminate.com/blog/is-vinyl-waterproof/ You wouldnt have to tear everything out if it floods again. And Yes I would seal the floor too before putting carpet or anything else on top of it.

[turf3]

If you've had a basement flood ruin the carpet in your basement, why would you think of replacing it with more carpet?

[gemstone1]

Ceramic tile is what I would use below grade....

[Mistermobile]

W/o more from your post you have predicted that flooding should not recur in yr basement. If you are satisfied with that and especially if you will just pass the problem to the next owner, maybe its in your interest to do as little as possible. Its up to you. So rip up the old carpet and paint with a sealer.


But usually water invades a basement between the walls and floor or even back up the drain.


You could dig a sump, install a pump, and keep the floor painted and that should solve flooding.



Or you can get a contractor to seal the walls from outside or dig a french drain along the inside tied into your outside drain to solve your problem. Muy expensive.

[LongIslandMatt]

The prior owner of our house installed carpet (the cheapest possible kind) on the "finished" side of our entirely below grade basement. I would not do that again. Basements flood, or at least attract moisture. We do run a dehumidifier down there that fills up every couple of days, sometimes every day. But water still seeps in occasionally from the surrounding wet ground or underneath.

Sealers sound fine, but I'd follow the modern trend of avoiding carpeting when doing renovations.

[Rickcin]

Originally Posted by NC211

So, we are replacing our carpet in our basement as part of an impromptu need from a partial water incident. I have pulled some up and cleaned up the concrete (which was nasty). Going to remove all of it soon to get ready for new.

Basement is 100% below grade with a walkout entrance.

Question on what type of carpet pad to use, and what extra-steps (if any) can I do to the concrete floor to make it even better? Obviously going to clean the heck out of it and especially under the baseboards to get ready for the new stuff. I plan on fixing the hairline cracks as I find them (it is 20 years old now, totally expect to find some).

Can I seal the concrete with a poly too? Paint it with Killz? Anything like that?

I don’t want to damage it by “locking in” anything if it’s supposed to be able to “breathe” naturally. I know humidity changes occur down there, we run a dehumidifier in general.
The foundation is serviced by a sump pump system.

Current carpet appears to be from 2008. Our carpet guy looked at the existing pad and instantly knew when it was manufactured and also knew the carpet type/manufacturer as well (Mazen carpet). All that is there now is the pad (8lb antimicrobial) and carpet, on bare concrete. No plastic sheet or anything like that.

Thanks!

You could also consider a good quality carpet tile since many of them are rubber backed, wear like iron and could be installed with the tac-tile system where no adhesive is necessary. They could be picked up if wet, dried out and then reinstalled.

They are much more expensive than using conventional broadloom carpeting.

[Threerun]

Originally Posted by NC211

So, we are replacing our carpet in our basement as part of an impromptu need from a partial water incident. I have pulled some up and cleaned up the concrete (which was nasty). Going to remove all of it soon to get ready for new.

Basement is 100% below grade with a walkout entrance.

Question on what type of carpet pad to use, and what extra-steps (if any) can I do to the concrete floor to make it even better? Obviously going to clean the heck out of it and especially under the baseboards to get ready for the new stuff. I plan on fixing the hairline cracks as I find them (it is 20 years old now, totally expect to find some).

Can I seal the concrete with a poly too? Paint it with Killz? Anything like that?

I don’t want to damage it by “locking in” anything if it’s supposed to be able to “breathe” naturally. I know humidity changes occur down there, we run a dehumidifier in general.
The foundation is serviced by a sump pump system.

Current carpet appears to be from 2008. Our carpet guy looked at the existing pad and instantly knew when it was manufactured and also knew the carpet type/manufacturer as well (Mazen carpet). All that is there now is the pad (8lb antimicrobial) and carpet, on bare concrete. No plastic sheet or anything like that.

Thanks!

The previous owners of this house used the entire subterranean basement as a 'kennel' for their dogs. The baby blue carpet was stained with urine, crap and was utterly nasty. First order of business was yank out the carpet, then I applied Kilz to the concrete floor, then we had a really, really expensive padding with a stain blocker put down and then carpet.

It totally worked great. That padding makes it feel as if you are walking on a foam mattress. Almost 10 years and it's still looking brand new.

FYI- tile or laminate flooring was out of the question for us- it get's COLD here, and carpet makes for a much warmer environment.