We used dricore on our basement floor with vinyl plank it sereves 2 purposes it keeps the floor warmer and if water some how makes its way in tho the basement it flows under the dricore I am not talking about a flood but a bit of water no problem IMO you should have closed the ceiling since the spiders will love what you did but if just a kids play space no big deal I guess. Iwould however change the light bulbs to 4000K to avoid the yellow cast and get brighter lighting.

Thanks for the comment!! For now we couldn’t afford to spend 2k or more to sheet rock for the ceiling so this is step 1 and was the easiest way to clean it up. In a year or two when we can afford to we plan to close it up :) since we were adding lights and getting rid of very very old lighting and wires we had to rip down the wood panels (some were already so loose and coming down already).

Will look into dicore! What happens if ester flows under? That my issue with the product I’m considering. Water will flow under and I’m worried it will get trapped and cause mold. We didn’t have more than a gallon of water in the basement with some of the recent crazy storms and we hope we fixed even that issue but we haven’t had a stone to test it with. We have a dehumidifier but that won’t dry up water under the flooring. Any thoughts? This is the item and color of the planks we were looking at.

Before you commit to the planks, go ahead and use a 10ft level to find out the flatness rating of your existing flooring. So long as the flatness rating is good enough for the floor planks, I say go for it.

If the flatness rating does NOT meet the plank requirements (too many humps and bumps) then go for the carpet tiles. The flatness rating is what allows the click edges to stay together. If a floor has too many hills and valleys then the edges will break. That's when your carpet tile find comes into play.

That would be how I made a choice in this situation. A $1/sf remedy is tough to find. You have found two (good for you!). The flatness rating is what will determine the BEST option for your situation.

Either way, make sure you keep enough left over product to reinstall 100sf of flooring. If you have a flood that damages more than 100sf (10ft x 10ft) then you need to file an insurance claim anyways....which means new flooring.

We used a LVP from Home Depot that is 100% waterproof and snaps together (like Pergo). Good looking floor and if we ever get water we don't have to worry about damage.

if you are a skilled DIY you could do a metallic epoxy- we charge 6-12 sq ftt but its doable as diy if you are up for the challenge- you should do a vapor barrier first if you have mo

Deb s I wish we could do epoxy. We did that for a live wood island and it was so much work. Can't imagine doing it for a while floor

Creative visual will check that item out! Thanks

Y Kramer its not bad if you have the right equipment and you are fastidious and creative- it takes my crew (experienced) 3 sessions 1/2 day each

Deb we would need to remove the current pink vinyl tiles that are there right?

If you're willing to do the work and want something cheap....we did kraft paper flooring. Pretty much just paper mache with elmer's glue and then Bona poly on top. Took about a week to rip up the paper (by myself), and 2 days of 3 guys laying it - 800 sq ft. It has held up for the past 5 years which for how cheap it was, is pretty awesome. There have been a couple floods and while it does bubble, once it dries out it sticks back to the floor. There is some discoloration from the flooding a couple spots have have the poly flake up in the past year. We're finally at a good point where we're about to lay nice vinyl planks down, but at the time we couldn't afford it. I'm guessing it could probably lay on top of old tiles.

This bookcase is still a work in progress, but it shows the floor well.

I wouldn't pull up that tile unless you absolutely have to. It's pushing my "asbestos" buttons pretty hard. Floor over it!

Here’s an update!!! We bought the above laminate flooring in the end for 80 cents per square foot!!! The dealer is private and was super nice, he understood were worried about water and was willing to negotiate a lower price. Wasn’t going to say no to that, hoping it will last 5 years, if we get more life out of it then great!

We will keep the tile beneath Incase of asbestos and we got an underlayment. Flatness rating was good.

Looked into LVP from Home Depot and it seems like it would have been perfect for us- but it’s super expensive.... hoping that if there is an underlayment and we get some water there it will dry in time since we have a dehumidifier. Hoping...!

The paper floor option was so cool by the way, darker look though than what we were looking for. Seems like a lot of work but very cool.

Thanks so much everyone!! 80 cents per square foot laminate tiles it is :) 3 more weeks and I hope we have a playroom!

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.