I don't think planks would work very well in that application and would instead look at high quality sheet vinyl like flexitec... it's heavily cushioned vinyl which is great for a basement application, it will take to moisture and uneven underflooring far better than plank vinyl which needs a VERY smooth surface.

Thanks much, Annie.

I will check this out. Today we went to look at Marmoleum, and (too bad) it is way too pricey for us. We don't want to spend 8 to 9K on a basement floor.

You could stain it and then use area rugs. Stained concrete is affordable, allows for all the imperfections and can be really beautiful. If you google it and look at the images, some are really very stunning.

Yes, concrete with rugs is a possibility. But, I should have mentioned that I live in Minnesota; I'd like something with at least a tad of cushioning and comfort for those long winter months. Thanks for the comment.

I put a floating plank floor in my craft/storage room in my basement. It is a bamboo look plank from HD, installed over not-completely- even concrete floors. I much prefer it to the (musty) carpet and sheet vinyl I have in other basement rooms.

I did it DIY, by myself, and it looks good, has held up well, and is much warmer and softer than concrete. I used the cheap, basic planks-- I'm sure a higher quality product would look even nicer, but I don't think you have to go with the most expensive kind to get what you want.

We used heavy duty commercial vinyl tiles and glued them down in our basement in our 100 year old home in Chicago. The best decision I ever made. The commercial tile is heavy duty, scuff proof, sold in hundreds of colors and lasted over 15 years - and then we sold the house. Cleaned up beautifully. I highly recommend. We bought ours at Lowes.

I'm so glad to hear that some of you have used the less-expensive products in your basements and are pleased with them. Of course, when looking for reviews and suggestions for flooring products I always end up finding those for the super high-end products and have now realized that in most situations people are using these pricey products in their main living areas, not basements. And, I've realized we don't need top-of-the-line for our basement (Marmoleum sticker shock helped with that decision).

jlc712--I think we'll take another look at those Costco LVP tiles; the price is right.

Jax--Are you referring the classic black and white square type vinyl tiles? Last night I started thinking about something like that as a possibility. That is actually very similar to what we have in our basement right now. With the right color and style choice and correct laying pattern these might work out and be relatively inexpensive.

Thanks all.

I used LVP resembling wood in my 90 year old basement with very uneven concrete last fall and it is so much better than laminate that was previously there.

roarah--

Did you use the floating or the glue down or the loose lay?

You can always put padding under the rugs; actually, you should put padding under them which would help. When we finally get to the point of doing our basement, the stained concrete is what I plan on doing. Our local mall did it on their floors and it's stunning. We're in Michigan, it gets pretty cold here too.

I used engineered wood floating floor in my basement. Yes it has a very thin layer on top that is the actual wood plank. It had a hard finish on it so has not shown much wear. I like it and it is low maintenance.

We used a large square (18x18 I think) luxury vinyl that has a sort of grass cloth pattern/texture to it. We laid it so the pattern runs horizontal in one tile and vertical in the next tile. I had been looking at wood and ceramic tiles but when I saw this I liked it even more and it was cheaper and better suited to surviving in a basement. We are a ways north of you and it is nice on the toes in the winter

mschwartz52--

I am intrigued. I have kind of decided that I am going to use something that really looks like hardwood and is not in the least little bit fakey. Or, I am going to use something that is not pretending to be something else like stone or hardwood and is distinctly a tile. What you did sounds very interesting. Was this a glue down application or floating floor or what?

We've been looking at our basement more carefully and have realized that there is a very distinct slant to it, so those clic things are probably not going to work out for us.

Thanks.

This is very interesting. I just (well a few hours ago) posted over on the conversation side about basement flooring. Replacing carpet and at the moment, I am leaning towards painting the concrete floor and using area rugs. Enjoying reading these suggestions. In our last house we did cheap self stick tiles, and they looked and wore fine. The only thing I didn't like was that they seemed to collect dust and washing the basement floor was not an easy thing. With the painted floor it is floor paint and it somehow does not get very dusty

The tiles we used were gluedown. I'm pretty sure they were from Armstrong. We do have a subfloor however so not sure if they can go directly onto concrete. I'll try to find a link but we r travelling at the moment and not sure I can link from my phone.

I'm the OP. We just returned from visiting a couple more flooring stores (we've now visited four flooring stores in total). One place today was absolutely excellent as far as having a long-time salesperson/owner who really knows her products and their uses in various applications.

In a situation like ours she highly recommends using luxury vinyl sheet with a glue down installation. It will adapt to minor dips in the floor, it is all vinyl so could withstand possible water incursion, it won't have potential dirt in the edges like tiles would if there is a water event in the basement, it is durable (she showed us some great examples of what can be done to it without harming it), and it is reasonably priced (not cheap but not as pricey as many other options we've seen).

I liked what I saw in the Mannington line wood-replicas because it is not cheesy looking, and it has an aluminum oxide coating to prevent damage to the floor. This floor would cost about 50% of what a marmoleum floor would cost us.

Hope this helps anyone else who is facing the same dilemma we are facing about flooring.

So what did you get and how does it look needinfo1?

Minnesota/basement=carpet IMHO we used carpet squares because in MN a dry basement can become "wet" very quickly.