DensPlus (and other non-paper-faced gypsum panels) are much more resistant to moisture than the green paper panels. That's why they can be used as tile backers. However, Dens Plus is much harder to prepare for painting than green board; it needs a skim coat. Frankly, other than in a bathroom, I've never used anything other than standard drywall in basements. But I always have a dehumidifier running to keep rh below 50%. And keeping the drywall a few inches above the floor and using XPS under the baseplates protects the wall from minor flood damage. Sealing the interior of a block wall--to the extent that the sealers can even do that--just means moisture accumulates in the wall and possibly causes damage.

This is a really old thread, but for anyone that finds this (like me), let me share my recent experience. We had an unfinished basement for 10 years. Over those years, we had seepage through the walls due to improper drainage outside (this was a brand new house). I agree with the poster above that suggests you fix your landscaping. We had spots where water was pooling, and water just...finds a way. It's what it does. Anyway, also during that time, I worked down in the basement on top of some old carpet and pad that we tore out of a room we put hardwood floors in. Never had any issue with that just sitting on the floor. We recently had our third child, and decided it was time to finish the basement. We decided that we would waterproof the north side of the house that had most of the water seepage in the past. For the flooring, we put down linoleum in the bathroom, laminate in my office, and carpet in the main part of the basement where the kids would play. Lowe's sold us on the VERY BEST (their words) carpet pad for basements. It's this newfangled crap that has a "breathable" vapor barrier. So water can escape from underneath but not penetrate through it from above. That's the claim. Well, fast forward LESS THAN ONE YEAR... The whole area where that carpet is smells musty and gross. If you are going to use a pad, DO NOT, PLEASE, GOD, DO NOT buy anything with a vapor barrier on it, even if they swear it is breathable. It may be breathable, but not enough. The crappy 6 pound rebond stuff I had sitting down there for probably 7 years never did this. The moisture from your floor needs to be able to escape, not get trapped underneath there. Lowe's is now sending out somebody to look at it, and they will decide how to handle this problem. It is going to be a huge nightmare. Even if they are super cooperative, and offer to replace everything, I still have to move all of our stuff out of there, have it all tore up, clean up whatever mess is there properly (somehow I don't think Lowe's will do this part for me), and then get it reinstalled again. From other things I have read, if you are going to put anything over top of the concrete, you shouldn't try to seal it. Walls are one thing, especially if you have functioning drain tiles that will drain the water that has nowhere to go. I'd be interested to know if anyone has opinions on the laminate I put down in my office. Underneath that is the foil covered pad, which is...a vapor barrier.. Every video you watch on the internet says this is how it's done in basements. I get stopping the vapor from hitting the laminate, but worry now that it's just trapped and will try to creep up the walls. Home ownership is so much fun!

Floorguy, I called BR-111 today and they told me to NOT use the Titebond III wood glue since the drying time was too long. They told me to use the Titebond II wood glue for floating or their newer version that they now like better called Titebond Tongue & Groove Glue. I have the specs in front of me and I like the lower calculated VOC (5.5 g/L) of the Titebond II since the Titebond Tongue & Groove Glue has a calculated VOC (less water) 13.7 g/L. Why does one say "less water" and the other type does not say this? But I like that the Tongue & Groove goes on white and dries tanslucent verses the II version goes on as a honey cream color and dries Translucent yellow. The Tongue & Groove glue is a Cross-linking polyaliphatic emulsion with a 2 year shelf life while the II version is a Cross-linking polyvinyl acetate with a 1 year shelf life. On the BR-111 site, it recommends the Titebond II Wood glue for floating or equivalent it says but during the phone call, I was told the website will be updated with Titebond's newer formulation, the Tongue & Groove Wood glue and they like it a little better. Both are only water resistant and have a fast dry time. Which should I buy? The place where I am buying my wood floor from and my underlayment has a different glue so I am going to go locally to find my glue.

Way to go! At $0.80/sf you can't go wrong. Honestly you can't. At that price I would have said to heck with the flatness rating! I'd accept a bit of bounce for a floor that price. And don't be so sure about vinyl planks and being able to save them once a flood occurs. To save a vinyl floor, you need to pull up the floor VERY quickly (as in an hour or so of the water incursion). You have to be SUPER careful because the edges break VERY easily. And you have to assume 25% breakage/loss of vinyl because of the removal process (yes it is THAT high). Then you have to be able to clean each and every plank (tub filled with a mild bleach solution). They need to be dried and then exposed to UV rays (laid out on the lawn in full sunlight) to kill the last of the bacteria/mold. And then you have to rack them out properly while you clean up the basement. And then the install can begin. Which assumes you purchased the 25% extra and kept it properly stored for just such an event. If you didn't purchase enough extra, then you need a new floor anyway. Man made products are only on the shelves for roughly 18 months and then they are never to be found again. Let me tell you, you are miles ahead with an laminate like the one you purchased. With 100sf of extra product, you can easily replace a large section of your basement without having to purchase another floor all together.