laying vinyl over cracked cement floor? (subfloor, Lowes, smell, install)

[camping!]

Hi!

We are finishing our basement (mostly ourselves ) and we have run into a bit of a problem -- perhaps someone here could give us an idea on how to solve it....

So, our house is about three years old and we are now finishing the basement. We (read dh ) will be laying a vinyl floor over the cement in the bathroom however the cement is cracked. How do we fill in the cracks so that the cracks won't show through the vinyl? Is there a product specific to this?

Any help and/or direction would be extremely appreciated!

[Cosmic]

How big is it and more important is the sides smooth and in the same plane or is it jagged and offset in elevation one side to the other.

Must be one of them crap new houses with concrete that ALWAYS CRACKS (just like all concrete always does, chuckle , where did they dream up that theory??????????????)

You can fill it with any cement product. I always like thinset for that type of thing, it will bond better than just about anything commonly available.

Your danger is the "CRACKING" is not over. Like bad news those crap houses just spread, faster and faster over time.

Might put the vinyl down so it is easy to rip back out and replace if the "A For Mentioned Crack continues to go wild". The vinyl should tolerate minor cracking for a bit of time.

Couple of pixs are worth a zillion words.

[desertsun41]

I think cosmic was giggling over the saying that all concrete cracks. Maybe he dont believe it.....do you? Truth is concrete does crack, it's the nature of the beast. But whether it does or dont is beside the point.... like cosmic says your concern will be if the level on each side of the crack is the same. If it is then do as he said with the thinset

If you do vinyl I advise you to NOT glue the whole thing. Glue just the perimeter so like he said if you have to remove it you can do so easily.

I believe the best bet for your situation is an industrial grade carpeting which is made to withstand moisture as well as heavy traffic. A carpet is very forgiving to a floor with cracks that might continue to move around.

Your only other alternative which I hate is to put in a new floating floor with pressure treated womanized lumber laying on the cement floor as joists and then a plywood T/G subfloor. You of course are losing precious height. And your basement floor (if it is a basement floor your talking about) is pitched towards the center where there should be a drain. so your joists will be all shimmed to hell just trying to accomplish level. Like I said I hate this idea but keep it in mind.

[bellalunatic]

Tarkett makes a flooring product called FiberFloor, it's a floating floor like vinyl but thicker and it is made for basement or below grade rooms with cement slabs....it need only be held down at the perimeter with baseboard molding...no glue.

Tarkett > Products > Fiber Floor
Thicker than regular sheet vinyl so it will be way better if the cracking continues to be a problem.
Industrial grade carpeting is the last thing I'd ever bother with in a bathroom...smelly, smelly smelly....everyone knows men don't always aim well...and over time...well..you get the picture.

seems like a good split the difference solution between Cosmic and Desertsun41, maybe eh?

[bjive]

I install flooring for a living and run into a situation like this every once in a while and it's not a big deal.
What I would do is just put a cement based product over the cracks with a flat trowell or putty knife.I use a product made by ARDEX that you just mix with water and apply it.With a fan it dries within a hour and bonds to cement with no problem.Check any flooring store or maybe Lowes H/D for it or another product similar.Also once it dries take some sandpaper and sand it down.
Anytime you deal with vinyl,you really need to get the floor smooth and in good condition because you can see things as small as a grain of sand bulging through the vinyl.It can look like a rock.You would be surprised.Because of this it usually takes more time getting the floor ready than the actual laying of the rug.
If the floor is not in the greatest shape you may won't to look at a vinyl that you only have to perimeter spread the glue.Really helps hide the flaws but remember not all vinyl can be full spread just like not all vinyl can be perimeter spread.

[camping!]

I would like to thank everyone for their advice - it was extremely helpful.

We ended up going with the Tarkett fiber floor. It came in a sheet, it is rather thick so no need to level out the cracks and it even has a moisture barrier plus it adheres to the floor by using double sided sticky tape! And the best news of all - it was only slightly more expensive then the thinner traditional vinyl.

Thanks so much for the help and advice