So you are looking to finish off a family room, play room or spare room in the basement but don’t really know what kind of flooring to use. You’ve thought about tile but don’t really want a hard floor that’s also going to be cold on your bare feet especially during the winter months. You like the thought of having wall-to-wall carpet for all its benefits like having a soft and inviting room that’s also warm to your feet, but don’t want to deal with the problems associated with carpeting in the basement. Well, with technology today, some possibilities have just opened up where you could use some rubber backed carpet squares to cover your basement floor.

When you start talking about putting carpet below-grade, you are going to run into some obstacles as well as varying opinions and personal tastes from people that both do and do not like this type of flooring in a basement. Some of the arguments you’ll hear is that there is too much risk for damage and that carpets will sometimes harbor a musty smell after a period of time. But, using quality rubber backed carpet square for basement floors is a good step in the right direction when you are looking for better options for better carpet at a better price.

What Are Tile Carpet Squares?

Carpet squares can give you all the comfort that you are seeking from a traditional carpet but in a new and effective way. Simply put, they are flexible pieces of carpet that come in a more practical tile format versus a huge roll. Some manufacturers are also implementing a touch of green-ness to them as well as they are building them with both renewable and recyclable materials. Plus, they come in a very wide range of designs, textures and colors making them a perfect combination of responsibility and style for your basement floor.

Carpet tiles are constructed uniformly in various sizes but the most common are 24×24 and 36×36 inches square. They really come in two different types, those that have a self adhesive backing and those with no adhesive backing. The ones with adhesive backing work basically just like vinyl tile in that you just peel and stick it to the concrete basement floor. For the other ones, they are typically stuck in place using a double sided carpet tape that is sometimes furnished with the product.

Basement Carpet Tile Squares Versus Rolled Carpeting

So what’s the difference between carpet tiles for the basement versus standard carpeting? Carpet squares come in multiple different types from fibers to piles, manufacturers to adhesion. So basically what this means to you is that if you are looking for a certain type of carpet, you are likely to find it (or something eerily similar) in a tile version.

The big difference, other than the obvious, is the backing material used on tiles versus standard carpet rolls. There’s another item that you need to look out for as well and that’s the warranty as they will and should be different. You will have different issues with tiles versus rolled carpet like buckling and curling.

Advantages of Carpet Tile Squares on Basement Floors:

If you are looking at putting carpet tiles on your concrete basement floor, you’ll be surprised to know that there are quite a few advantages to doing so:

• Installation – Carpet squares are so much easier to install than standard carpeting. You don’t have to mess with the tack boards and all the securing and carpet stretching involved. They make for the perfect weekend warrior as a simple DIY project. And if you get the kits, most come with very precise and clear instructions so it’s really hard to mess up.
• No Carpet Padding – Carpet tiles come with a backing already installed so there’s no need to mess with rolled carpet padding here. Plus you don’t have to with any messy glue to get them to stick.
• Easier Care and Cleaning – This is probably one of the biggest pluses of using carpet tiles in your basement. With tiles, you can actually remove it from the floor, do the deep cleaning you need to do to it versus the entire carpet, and then simply reinstall it. Plus, if it’s un-cleanable or without repair, you can simply just replace it with a new tile.
• Design Freedom – You can easily mix and match or layout a design to your liking with carpet tiles to get the proper combination and color for your basement floor.

Disadvantages of Using Carpet Tile Squares:

It’s not all peaches and cream with carpet tiles though; there are some things that you should be aware of:

• Cost – Dependant on the style and brand, carpet squares can be a little more expensive than rolled carpet. Where you save is the self-installation.
• Subfloor – Just like carpet, you will still need a fairly clean and stable concrete basement floor that’s relatively flat without any moisture issues. You don’t want to run the risk of entering into a mold or mildew problem.
• Wear and Tear – Now I really don’t have a lot to back this one up because everything I’ve both read and seen look to be fine, but you will find some out there that say in higher traffic areas they won’t hold up as well as rolled carpet. I’m not really sure where that’s coming from because depending on the type of carpet, some just hold up better than others.
• Installation Issues – You do have to be careful while installing them as you can’t simply just throw them down. If you do you are likely to have places and patches where the seams may show a little too much or just seem uneven. You can combat this by taking your time and setting the seams to where you are satisfied with the job by removing any trapped yarns with a credit card by simply running it through the seams. Just ensure that the panels still remain snug after doing so.

Different Types Of Carpet Squares?

Most all major manufacturers make carpet squares including some of the top industry giants like Milliken, Mannington, Shaw, and Mohawk. Here’s a sampling of some of the more interesting ones that I’ve seen.

Legato Milliken Carpet Squares

Cadence Shaw Carpet Squares

Commercial Carpet Squares

If your basement is going to be a more interactive high-traffic area, you may opt for commercial carpet squares instead. They offer all the same benefits of regular squares like the ease of installation, flexibility and modularity to create fun and interesting floor designs in your basement, but they are made to withstand years of high-traffic wear and tear. These may be just what you are looking for in an entertainment room, kids play room or home office. If you don’t really know what commercial grade carpet squares are, take a look the next time you happen to be out and about. You’ll run into these most likely when you are at an office building, daycare or school, hotels and some restaurants, and maybe even your local church.

Special Note:
If you are planning on installing carpet squares in your basement you might want to pick up a few extra as well, just like you would do with laminate basement flooring. It’s always nice to not have to go back later and try to match it up in case you run into a problem with one or two of them later in their life cycle as with most any product the actual colors and designs can change from time to time. Having them on hand will allow you to make quick and easy replacements and repairs to your floor if it does get damaged later unintentionally.

Carpet squares are becoming more and more predominant as basement flooring applications due in part to their simplicity in installation as well as the variety of designs and styles that can be purchased. It’s a simple, effective and easy way to change the look of your basement today.

Recently, I received an email from a reader who’s having a little bit of problems with her basement flooring as the installed flooring is buckled and dark from the water that’s penetrating their room. It seems like they’ve got a drainage issue that pretty much keeps the place wet or damp most all of the time. Read her problem just below and then we’ll discuss if there is a solution for these wet floors.

“We have a basement level that is susceptible to water penetration from an exterior drainage problem. Unfortunately, we only found out about this after we installed bamboo flooring which is now buckled and dark from the moisture. (It’s really not possible to fix the exterior drainage problem.) We’re going to take out the flooring, but we’re not sure what to put in. The sub-floor seems to be a mix of concrete and plywood. We can’t put in a floating floor. I could really use some advice. Assume that the floor will be damp all the time .

Thanks!
Jocelyn”

Well, as you can tell Jocelyn is in a little bit of a pickle here without being able to fix the drainage issue. One thing that would help would be a bit more knowledge and information around what exactly that drain problem is that’s keeping the floor wet. Not knowing is causing me a bit of a problem here as we can’t decipher where it’s coming from. The window, walls or up through the concrete. Another puzzling piece as well is how much water is actually getting in. At any rate, you should do all that you can to at least minimize the water coming into the lower level as this could be a potentially dangerous and unhealthy situation. Whether that is having a company come in and waterproof the basement or take measures into your own hands to do so, then do the best you can. Nobody wants to end up potentially flooded. Hopefully nothing of value is down there as you certainly wouldn’t want it ruined and be out of pocket on it or worse, something not replaceable like family heirlooms.

What I wouldn’t use for flooring this room

Let’s start here first as it’s easier to say no then yes, at least for me. Wooden subfloors or any type of subfloor that maintains solid contact with your concrete floor would be out. That’s not to say that you can’t have a subfloor, as there are other types that will leave a vapor barrier in between it and the concrete so it can dry appropriately and also not rot from the water. Carpet or carpet tiles would also be out. The carpet will mildew and mold and the adhesives used to stick the tiles in place typically don’t hold up to repeated soaks in water. Engineered or laminate flooring would also not be a wise choice as you can already see what it’s done to your bamboo flooring. These would also likely buckle into an unsightly mess as well. I know most folks have an affinity for hardwood floors, but this basements a no-no.

Possible Wet Basement Flooring Ideas

Idea 1: Paint the floor. This could be a viable solution for many reasons. One, it’s cheaper to paint it than to install some type of flooring on it. Two, you can pretty much get any color that you’d like to have down there. Three, it won’t buckle or rot with water exposure, provided you get the right kind of paint. Finally, painting is easy. If you can paint a wall then you can paint a floor. Just don’t paint yourself into a corner. The one drawback with painted basement floor is that in a few years or so, you’ll probably have to paint it again as it will likely chip and peel in places depending on the exposure and traffic.

Idea 2: Stained floor. This is actually a growing trend. Although a little tougher than simply painting the floor, the outcome are beautiful and you can get really creative design wise with etchings and such. Plus with all the different types and colors of stains you have a wide range of choices to pick from. Look for some more from me soon on this one.

Idea 3: Tiled basement floor. This is another very viable option for wet basements. This one will take a little bit more manual labor than others as you’ll have to haul it all downstairs, but it also opens up the realm of possibilities as you’ll be able to use single patterns, multiple patterns, sizes, borders, etc. You can get very creative with using tiles and when they do get wet you just have to mop them up.

These are suggestions and to be used at your own risk. I would definitely consult a local professional to take a better look at the issue and then make a decision as to what you want to do with your basement floor.

“Best” is one of those words I don’t like to use much as it’s more of an opinion word. Not being a very opinionated type person, especially surrounding one’s home as it’s in the eye of the beholder (or homeowner in this case), I like to leave that part to you to make as to which one of these solutions would be the best flooring for a wet basement.

Installing basement carpet, or any other type of sub-grade installation, you need to make sure that you have a dry basement. These rooms are typically problem areas for a lot of homes as they are by their sheer nature a moisture magnet due to being underground. If you don’t, there are some precautions that you need to take in waterproofing the room. Unless it’s completely dry, year round, a carpet is going to cause you problems and you’ll end up replacing it more often than not and more than you’d want to. However, if your basement is dry and you’ve done all the precautionary measures to protect your investment, then you should be able to install some good carpeting downstairs.

Is carpeting good for basement floors?
Well, there’s definitely a few things that you’d need to check out first. First it’ll depend a lot on what exactly you are planning to do in your lower-level, like whether you are having it as a family room, workout room or laundry room. That’ll determine whether or not you should use carpeting or some other form of flooring. If it’s going to be a laundry room you’re not going to want to put carpet in it, maybe something more along the lines of some ceramic tile. The second is whether or not you have a dry basement. If you don’t have any water problems and never had any to start with and you can without a doubt say it’s dry, then you should have no problem using carpeting. I would suggest installing a good subfloor first just in case you do ever come about some water issues from leakage or seeping if you have the headroom and to also protect the carpet from getting wet and producing mold or mildew.

What is the best carpet then?
There’s nothing particularly required for installing or selecting a carpet for your basement, but there are a few things that you need to keep in mind to get the best basement carpeting for your needs. You’d really go about it any way that you would choose carpeting for any other room as to whether you’d want a loop or twist style carpet. If it’s going to be a high-traffic area or a place where you’re pets are going to roam free, you might consider an inexpensive version or brand that you won’t mind replacing after it’s had a few years of use like you would any other of this type. But if you’ve addressed all those other issues and want one that’s going to last for a while you’re going to have to spend some more money. The only real item of importance on my list when selecting a carpet for the basement is that it don’t have a jute backing. This is a pretty normal backing for most less expensive carpets these days as it stands up well above ground level. But due to it’s strong resemblance to an old potato bag, you can bet that it’s not going to stand up to any type of moisture pressures that could be put into it below grade as you can tell from it’s picture just to the right. It’s quite porous and the water will seep through to the carpet fibers. I do like the carpets that come with the new Dow polyurethane backing. This will offer your carpets a strong tuft bind, moisture resistance, delamination and anti-edge raveling. Not only will they retain their characteristics but they also have a natural adhesion to nylon fibers. This makes them able to to stand strong in those high-traffic areas for years to come.

Additional Precautionary Carpet Measures
So let’s just say that you are able to qualify your lower-level as being “dry”, there are a few other things that you should consider to help you along the process of keeping it that way. The first thing to do is try and create a very dry environment to keep the mold and mildew down. These little buggers simply thrive in a moist environment like a basement and will ultimately end up making your freshly installed carpet smell to high-heaven. By installing a quality rated dehumidifier you can get one step closer to solving that issue. Just make sure it’s one that’s rated for basements as the air is typically much cooler down there and harder to remove the moisture from. The second step is if you have the headroom, put in a ceiling fan. This will keep the air moving and not allow it to get stagnant, not to mention keep the room a lot more comfortable in the process. The third thing is if you are going to use a carpet padding, make sure it has an anti-microbial built into it. This will help in that it won’t be a conducive surface that will support mold and mildew growth. If you’re going to put carpet downstairs, you might as well take the precautions to protect it fully.

Alternatives
Although it’s not an impossible task to carpet a basement especially if your dead set on the look and feel of it all, it’s probably the right choice for you. Even if you have the driest basement on the block, you still have some alternatives to basement carpet that you should keep in mind as they could save you some money in the long haul. One of the newer trends is actually staining and finishing your concrete basement slab. Although beautiful with some of the more decorative surface patterns being etched in, I’m still not a very big fan of implementing this in a basement as you’ll end up with same cold surface for your feet as you had before. Sure you could throw some rugs down to cover the more trafficked areas but I guess it depends on what you have planned for the room, hey, to each there own. Another alternative instead of a fully laid carpet is to use the newer basement carpet tiles over a properly installed underlayment. These aren’t just your regular carpet squares here. They are thick pieces of rubber backed carpeting that come in a multitude of decorative designs and patterns. You can really design your whole flooring with these and in the end still look like you have a one-piece carpet installed. There are many other alternatives to carpeting that you can choose from and instead of going into all of them here, I’ve just listed a few. If you want more feel free to click around the site for other options for your floor.