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In the past six months, with driving rain and wind twice water has seeped in though my basement sliding glass door (I call it a basement, but it's just the level on the slab, nothing below grade). I am working on getting to the root of the problem and fixing it, but when I tore up the carpet in the corner by the door yesterday after a flash flood, I noticed the carpet and padding was getting moldy and the wood strips around it were black and rotted. The concrete seemed fine and has dried out nicely in a few hours.
I decided I am ripping it all out all the carpet ASAP and replacing it now (I was going to replace it before I sold with new carpet anyway since that carpet is so worn. I was going to wait because it's a high traffic area and I didn't want to wear out the new stuff before selling).
But because I haven't figured out the water issue yet, I wanted to replace the carpet in that bottom level and the steps leading down to it with luxury vinyl that looks similar to the hardwood on the main level of the house. You know, those strips that look and have the texture of wood, but are water resistant.
Does luxury vinyl like that show well? I don't want to put something down that will make my house less appealing. I keep having this mental block and equating it to sheet vinyl floors which I find hideous. But I think the vinyl planks will hold up well with all the traffic in and out of the house and they can get wet if I haven't solved the problem (I am leaning towards the door needs to be resealed).
My only other option I think would be tile. real hardwood is a bit out of budget and I think engineered hardwood would look okay, but it's not water resistant and that bottom level is a high traffic area since it's the main way in and out of the house (garage and back door is on that level... it's the sliding glass back door where the water got in twice).
Last edited by WalkingLiberty1919D; 06-11-2021 at 05:41 AM..
I would do the vinyl plank people seem to really like it. And it won’t get damaged with the water.
I have to agree 100%. I use that flooring material in about 50% of my house. It holds up very well and is very resistant to wear and tear while looking very modern and fresh.
I don't know about buyers in your area, but my tenants strongly prefer houses without carpet.
If that area is wet, you can not use carpet, wood, or laminate.
I am not sure what people want here, but the will buy with carpet just as fast as without. I just wasn't sure about vinyl.
An update to my post, I went to a flooring store and got luxury vinyl samples as well as "water resistant" laminate samples. I like the vinyl better and it's cheaper too. I mean, it's actually pretty nice to walk on, even with bare feet, not like the vinyl floors of my youth that I was thinking of. There is even a wood grain texture to it.
For future readers, there is 'click' LVT which does not require adhesive. It stays in place with a tongue-and-groove-like connection along the sides of the planks. It works well in basements because the connections are unaffected by moisture, whereas traditional 'glue down' LVT may look like it's fine at first but the adhesive will delaminate and the planks will become loose--so if the door or something else leaks, you can just pull up the 'click' planks, let things dry out, and put it all back own again.
Why are you thinking of putting ANYTHING down before finding out where the leak is and fixing it? If your roof were leaking and getting the carpet wet in the upstairs bedroom, would you replace the carpet before fixing the leak?
I would simply rip out the carpet and any padding that might be under it, and then find the leak and fix it. Once you are certain that the leak problem has been fixed, then address the issue of what to cover the concrete with.
Why are you thinking of putting ANYTHING down before finding out where the leak is and fixing it? If your roof were leaking and getting the carpet wet in the upstairs bedroom, would you replace the carpet before fixing the leak?
I would simply rip out the carpet and any padding that might be under it, and then find the leak and fix it. Once you are certain that the leak problem has been fixed, then address the issue of what to cover the concrete with.
The short answer was because I was being boneheaded. I have since come to my senses and I’m going to fix the the problem and any damage first. It was just a really rough week for me o so many levels and this incident was the icing on the cake. It was a kind of throw up my arms and say, “I’m just going to replace the carpet I don’t care!” Kind a moment. I think I may have found the root of the problem which was A neighbors downspout emptying into my yard right by the door. The downspout was behind the privacy fence so I couldn’t see it. I’m in a townhouse, so the houses are close together and something as simple as that would be the same as if I didn’t even have gutters and downspout. Evidently this is been going on for a while but I only noticed it when it rained very heavily and a lot of water got into the house. My neighbor redirected his downspout. But I still have other things to do such as reseal the door and I’m going to rip out the baseboard because I think it might be rotted or mildewed near the door like the carpet.”
The short answer was because I was being boneheaded. I have since come to my senses and I’m going to fix the the problem and any damage first. It was just a really rough week for me o so many levels and this incident was the icing on the cake. It was a kind of throw up my arms and say, “I’m just going to replace the carpet I don’t care!” Kind a moment. I think I may have found the root of the problem which was A neighbors downspout emptying into my yard right by the door. The downspout was behind the privacy fence so I couldn’t see it. I’m in a townhouse, so the houses are close together and something as simple as that would be the same as if I didn’t even have gutters and downspout. Evidently this is been going on for a while but I only noticed it when it rained very heavily and a lot of water got into the house. My neighbor redirected his downspout. But I still have other things to do such as reseal the door and I’m going to rip out the baseboard because I think it might be rotted or mildewed near the door like the carpet.”
That's good! It's always a good idea to find out WHY you have a water intrusion problem somewhere rather than just trying to plug up a hole or a leaky wall or whatever. If you can find where the water is coming from and divert it so that it doesn't come there any more, then fixing the problem becomes much easier and much more permanent.
In this case, since the source of the problem is from a neighbor's downspout, you'll need to keep an eye on what your neighbor does (or doesn't do) in order to make sure that your problem remains fixed. That complicates matters just a little bit, but it shouldn't be an insurmountable problem if you just keep an eye on things. Good luck.
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