Waterproof underlayment for LVP over concrete basement floor
Konstantin
4 years ago
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millworkman
4 years agoKonstantin
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Should I paint/waterproof my basement floor?
Comments (30)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!...See MoreBasement flooring advice - LVP or wood look tile
Comments (5)Absolutely NORMAL! The age of the house = expensive to put flooring in the basement. Age of the house = expensive to fix all the problems you have run into. The problems you have = EXTRA expensive to install a floor that will survive standing water. Sorry but your situation = very expensive. There is no getting around it. And if you think loose lay are expensive, wait until you see the cost of glue down vinyl! The choices are: 1. Go SUPER expensive; do ALL the preparation NEEDED (that includes the $5/sf moisture mitigation for the slab AND the foundation walls); add more concrete and then lay any floor you want so that you no longer have any concerns. Go SUPER CHEAP = couldn't care less if the floor gets ruined. You simply buy a new one and keep going. Option #1 will cost 3-7 TIMES more expensive than option #2. That means you can replace the SUPER cheap floor 3-7 TIMES before you "hit" the price tag for the "FULL FIX". If loose lay vinyl is getting too pricey, then I would say option #2 just became your best friend....See MoreSubfloor & Underlay for Luxury Vinyl (LVP) on Concrete Basement Floor
Comments (3)Sorry but vinyl doesn't like very many of these subfloor gimmicks. The dimpled subfloor underlayments (like platon) isn't allowed under vinyl....you need to add a sheet of plywood over top = loss of ceiling height. DriCore would work except you will lose more than 1/2" because of it. Underpad under vinyl is very rare and very expensive. If you want vinyl in your basement, you are pretty much down to "bare concrete". If you can find some mass loaded vinyl underlay (1.2mm thick) specifically made for (and allowed by the manufacturer of) vinyl floors, then you can have underpad. A high-end laminate with cork underlay and a vapour barrier would be a better option if you want warmth underfoot without the loss of ceiling height....See MoreThose w/ floating LVP on concrete: How "perfect" are your sub floors?
Comments (37)Yikes, we just had a local Flooring Contractor begin our flooring project. We're replacing the carpet that was original to the home, and ripping out the tile in several areas to install LVP over slab. The Contractor talked a great game, telling us about his 15 years experience and his "5 Star" reviews. When I asked about getting the old carpet glue up, he assured me he had a "power scraper" that will take the glue right up. Asked about filling nail holes from tack strips, he said he had self leveling stuff to fill those. My wife and I knowing we were getting new flooring began removing old carpet and tack strips where accessible. I filled the little craters left by pulling up the tack strip and scraped up what I could with the glue. Figuring this would save some time for the contractor. Well when it came to do the actual prep, he suddenly changed tune saying he's never fills those hole in the concrete it doesn't affect the floor at all and is a waste of time. I can see that might be true with the small holes, but pulling up the tack strips left from pretty sizable "craters." The next "red flag" was when he changed his tune on scraping the glue, he claimed the underlayment would take up any imperfections and we'd never notice once the floors are in. He said something interesting, when he said that when he's installing he asks himself if the floor will feel good under foot to the customer. Which we took to mean, if the customer never knows he didn't do a proper prep or follow manufacturer installation requirements, it's a win. When it came to following Manufacturers installation procedure, he claimed that's just CYA stuff and he does it his way. Running the underlayment perpendicular to the direction of the LVP, nah, he said you don't really need to do that, besides it takes more time. Then there's the logistic accommodations we went over with him from the get go, due to our pets. He agreed to 3 phases...until he began work then he suddenly claimed he never agreed to 3 phases, just two, then went into how he's never had a client who couldn't just put the pets in carriers and put them all in one room, then he questioned why we would adopt feral cats. That was not his job to judge our choice to rescue some cats. Oh it gets worse, with him not respecting our property. When he was taking up the tile in a bathroom, he put the toilet in our Jacuzzi shower. Did not cover the glass shower doors to protect them from "flying" mastic and tile chips. When we called him on it, the excuse was "I know what that shower is made of, and putting the toilet in there won't hurt it." We said that wasn't the point, the point was you didn't respect our property. Anyway it was excuse after excuse, argument after argument about how we trying to tell him how to do his job. Well in the end he was pretty pissed off that we expected he followed through on things we discussed and do a proper surface prep, so he quit the job. We now have a living room with basically a pallet of LVP, boxes of QuietWalk and bundles of base board. We've got another contractor coming in a few days to give us a quote on completing the project....See MoreKonstantin
4 years agoKonstantin
4 years ago
HU-18988608
2 years ago
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