Looking for something a little different for your basement floor? Take a look at the Blacksburg Barn Board laminate flooring if you are thinking about redecorating or remodeling your basement. This floor can bring a unique look to just about any room and can be something special in the right below grade installation.

This particular laminate is by Dream Home in their St. James collection. It does have some special features to it in that it is a V-groove laminate that’s 12mm with an additional 3mm of pre-glued underlayment already attached to each plank. The planks sport some very deep medium colored hues that’s sure to warm up an area that’s mostly thought of as cold and dreary. Not only will this flooring be very durable but it also comes with a 30 year warranty.

The St. James Barn Board laminate will give you the ability to create a simply stunning floor in your basement. The V-groove makes installation a breeze as their is no glue or nails involved. And as an added feature, the planks also come in random lengths which adds to the impression that you have a solid, real wood floor in your basement. This is an HDF Laminate that’s made for a floating floor installation.

Installation Tips For Barn Board Laminate Flooring

There’s really not a lot you have to watch out for with this flooring, other than if you are planning for a weekend upgrade you are going to want to get the packages in the room a little early. It’s recommended to get the flooring and store it flat in the packaging for at least 48 hours in the room where you are going to install it. This lets the flooring acclimate properly and you won’t have any surprises after you lay the floor down. Just like any other flooring, the concrete slab or subfloor should be a stable, flat, dry surface that is clean. One thing that is recommended is that if you are going to install it directly over a concrete slab is that you lay down some kind of moisture barrier first.

Because this flooring material is really easy to install, you can do it yourself without the help of a professional installer. So if you do this project yourself, here’s a professional installation tip to help you along the way and get that good-looking, unique floor. You don’t want the floor to be all uniform, take your time and mix up the planks as you install them. This way you won’t end up with too many light and dark panels sitting next to each other. Rather they’ll be more spaced throughout and give the look of a professionally laid solid wood floor.

One Word Of Caution

This flooring does not need additional padding underneath. It already has 3mm underlayment padding attached to the planks. Adding additional padding under the planks could actually cause the floor to weaken and break in the joints over time. It’s good to go right out of the box.

Why Would You Put This In The Basement

There’s some definite advantages to using this as your basement floor. First, you get the look of a real wood floor as the packages come with three different plank lengths in each box. As I said earlier, it’s got easy click installation without the need for glue or nails. It’s also a moisture resistant board with a pre-glued underlayment that comes to a total thickness of 15mm with a 30 year warranty.

Blacksburg Barn Board laminate flooring is a quality laminate that can be used on your basement floor today. With it’s easy installation and durability, beautiful color and attractive finish, you could have a new living room, family room, or even bedroom in your basement this weekend.

Most all basements tend to be below-grade. That is a portion of their structure is below ground level. You can get into all different kinds of specifics surrounding that, but if your concrete basement floor has a section that is under ground, whether it’s just one wall or all of them, your basement is below-grade. Because of this, most flooring installed below-grade has to be either able to tolerate some exposure to water or be protected from it. Durability is a key here. Just think back to those winter thaws and spring rains, all that water seeps into the ground and makes the ground water level rise. And if it rises enough or becomes saturated enough around your home, you can expect to have some kind of moisture issues hitting your basement slab or walls. But it’s not only during those times, it can happen year round.

Because of that moisture, you’ve got to be a little selective around what kind of basement flooring you install. Sure, hardwood floors look great but are they really conducive in a basement environment? I guess with the right amount of time (and money) you could have hardwood flooring in your basement but you could also be in for a world of hurt if something ever happens to make the wood warp to where you have to replace it. And believe me, nobody likes a soggy carpet. If your basement is prone to moisture, these would be definite options to steer clear of.

Beautiful Solid Hardwood Flooring

Engineered basement flooring is another terrific option as well. You can still get that all natural hardwood flooring look in a protected piece of flooring. Engineered floor planks actually have a slice of wood embedded in it and typically urethaned or melamine resin or similar protective coating applied to protect the actual wood piece, so it’s not really solid wood. It’s fairly straightforward and easy to install and you can do it yourself if you are apt to. It’s a little less expensive than hardwood but a little more expensive than another option like laminate flooring.

Using laminate flooring though below grade can make for a really beautiful basement floor. Just like engineered floor planks, laminate floor planks are manufactured in the same style. However, instead of having that actual slice of wood, you get a photographic replica. Yep, it’s a picture. But, because of that, laminate floors come in a much wider range from woods to stones to tiles that can be used. That same type of protective coating is used to protect laminates from different stains and scratching. Plus, laminated flooring can be used in areas where the humidity changes frequently (like a basement) because it is far less prone to contract and expand like solid wood flooring with differing moisture conditions. That’s not to say it won’t, because it likely can, just not like hardwood flooring.

Laminate floors are floating floors. This simply means that they are not nailed down or directly glued to the concrete or sub-floor. It’s still not really recommended to install laminate floors directly on a concrete basement slab and you should use some kind of moisture barrier or subfloor for added protection and to keep the laminate away from any water that may seep through the slab.

Shaw Laminated Flooring

Saying all this, it’s likely that I’ve opened up a can of worms here and you’ve got questions. I know that I’ve been getting quite a few of them through the contact form as well as in the comments with people wanting to know more so I’ll take this to answer a few of the most popular.

Question: What is the difference between hardwood flooring, engineered flooring and laminated flooring? (From Jean Carlson, Ontario, CA)

One thing’s for sure, I like wood and the look it can bring to any home. Whether that’s through solid, engineered, or laminate. However, the classy selection has always been to where you can say you’ve got hardwood floors, there’s some real advantages to laminate. One is that solid wood flooring should only be installed above grade, while engineered and laminates can be installed below-grade. Solid wood planks are much thicker than the other two as the average size is around ¾” thick. Engineered and laminate planks however are typically only up to 3/8” thick and made up from several different layers of material. The top surfaces of those layers are the wood representation. In engineered, it’s an actual veneer. In laminates, it’s a high quality photograph. Price is also a variable difference. The cost will go down as you travel from solid to engineered to laminate. Because of their durability and affordability, laminates are becoming some of the most popular flooring options available.

Question: Do all basement laminate planks secure the same? (From Lee Woodard, New York)

Most all laminates are “floating floors” so they don’t really secure to anything. They simply float on top of the subfloor. But, if you are talking about how the individual planks “secure” to each other, than that’s a totally different question all together. There’s actually several different edge locking systems dependent on what brand or style of flooring you purchase. Some snap together by hand while others will require a gentle nudge with a soft rubber mallet to get it locked in place. Just check to see which one you are comfortable with and can afford. To me, no real one is better than the other as they all do their job. The difference comes in the manufacturing and type of material used for this locking system. Some are just cheap, and with cheap products you get cheap results. On those lesser expensive models you’ll sometimes find that you end up wasting planks when you go to snap them together as the tongue and groove will simply break or collapse. The ones that work still hold strong. While, on the other hand, using a good quality system like the ones in Pergo laminate flooring, you’ll find there is much less “waste” involved due to the locking. But that’s just one example.

Pergo Laminated Floors

Question: Are there places where you should not install laminated flooring? (From Eugene, Seattle, Washington)

Well of course there are, but just remember that laminated flooring is extremely versatile. You can put it in nearly any room. You can install it both below and above ground. You can even install it directly over concrete or wood or linoleum, as long as the surface is flat. However, there are certain places where you probably should not install laminate flooring. You should not lay laminate in places like a bathroom. Although it is possible if you take some added precautions, the bathroom is regarded as a “wet location”. And, since laminate is considered a wood-type product, it won’t do well in there. If you have other rooms that you consider “wet” rooms, then you should not put it there. Also, laminates don’t do well in outside areas like an enclosed porch.

Any room or location where there is a possibility for extended exposure to water could cause the material used in manufacturing laminates to swell. When laminate flooring swells, it will start to bubble up and become displaced along the seams causing an uneven and ugly looking appearance. That doesn’t mean that it can’t get wet occasionally due to a little mishap or spill, just that it needs to cleaned up and dried properly so it maintains its form.

Question: What are the three best advantages to using laminated flooring? (From Darryl, Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Well, the first one for laminated basement flooring is price, it’s the cheapest flooring that you can get and still have the look of solid hardwood flooring in your basement. Secondly, it is absolutely one of the easiest floors to install that you can do yourself. There’s no nailing involved and most all of them these days are floating without glue. The only level of expertise you’ll really need is being able to cut the right dimensions and corners. And finally, laminates are quite durable. They hold up really well to scratching and with the use of high-def photos, they are less likely to fade like other flooring materials.

And that’ll about wrap it up. Those are the four most common questions that I’ve got regarding the use of laminate flooring below grade in a basement. As always, if you have others, feel free to leave them below.

With laminate basement flooring you truly do have a wide array of design possibilities. When practicality is very important but a primary concern is to be visually appealing, laminate flooring can meet both of these needs and help you stay sane when the budget is tight. When most people think of laminate flooring, one of the first things that tend to pop into someone’s head is a wood look. While this is definitely feasible, laminate flooring comes in many more styles and colors than just looking like solid wood. Most people don’t know that you can also get laminate in patterns resembling marble and sandstone, most tile patterns, abstract design prints, and amazing floral layouts as well.

A typical “plank” form is what most people generally associate with laminate flooring. However, in more recent times a new form of laminate is gaining rapid acceptance throughout the northern hemisphere. What is it you might ask? Laminate basement flooring that is square in shape and resembles more of a tile look. Yep, that’s right, there are really two basic types of laminate flooring for you to choose from when deciding to renovate your basement floor.

First let’s start with laminate basement flooring planks because that’s the one that most everybody is familiar with. Generally speaking, regardless of the manufacturer, laminate planks are all typically the same size , are about 4 inches wide and only a quarter of an inch thick. Here’s where the wood look comes in as most laminate installations that you would see or have seen and you know it’s laminate comes with this grain wood look. What most people don’t know is that you can also get this laminate plank flooring in a wide variety of ceramic tile and stone designs as well.

Now let’s take a look at laminate basement flooring squares. You might hear them called either laminate square flooring or laminate board flooring. Irrespective of what you might hear it called it’s the same thing. Here’s where it can get fun working with laminate. These squares come in a variety of sizes. They can range from seven inch squares up to two foot squares. Not to mention the design possibilities as they basically come in just about any pattern under the sun. Ranging from abstract mosaic looks to solid stone to wild florals prints, you can achieve the look for your basement flooring with ease. They even come in squares that mimic tile floors fully decked out with grout lines instilled in the pattern. Awesome!

Not only that, but if you do choose to use laminate basement flooring squares, you can also choose not install it in a typical grid fashion. You may want to think about installing them in a more diagonal form to the walls. And don’t forget that you can spice them up along the way as well by adding in some decorative floor border, or getting multiple color variations and putting them in a checkerboard across the basement floor, or whatever you might dream up. One word of caution though, aesthetically this could look dynamite with square laminate flooring for basement floors, but plank laminate flooring because of the wood look tends to look better horizontal due to it’s linear wood design.

Other info on laminate basement flooring:

• Laminate Basement Flooring
• Laminate basement flooring installation
• Engineered Basement Flooring