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When you're planning on renovating your basement, one of the most important things you need to consider is your basement flooring. As you would like to make the living space as cozy and inviting as possible, the cold, hard cement floor which basement flooring are usually made of is not an option!
There are several ways to make the basement more livable and comfortable One inexpensive basement flooring is paint. Choose the type of latex paint that is semi-permeable, especially if you have basement water seepage issues. If you apply ordinary paint for your basement flooring, chances are the paint would begin peeling after only a few months.
Another basement flooring option is wall-to-wall carpeting. The feel of carpet on your feet is very warm and comforting especially during harsh winters. It's also your best choice if you want to convert the basement into a toddler's bedroom or a family room. However, again, if you have seepage problems, using carpeting as basement flooring can be a bad decision.
This is because carpets take a long time to dry when it inadvertently absorbs water. In addition, its fibers can become home to molds which thrive in extremely humid environments. Thus, if your basement is not properly ventilated, your carpets could become dank and infested with bacteria.
If you can't help but use carpeting for your basement flooring, it's best to first address the seepage problem. The easiest method is laying a polystyrene foam or felt covering right on top of the concrete floor. Roll it out with a 4" margin on the sides. After the entire floor area has been covered, you can then trim off the excess foam or felt.
Next, lay a sub floor of ply on top of this material. Doing so would prevent moisture from creeping up to your carpet or any basement flooring you would like to experiment with. Using a sub flooring would also make your floor more comfortable than the concrete floor alone.
If you are into the classic look of ceramic tiles, then by all means use them. They are easy to clean and are generally resistant to spills and stains. There are also hundreds of designs, textures, and colors to choose from and you can practically match your basement flooring with just about any type of furniture you use for your living space. Their downside, however, is that they tend to be cold.
This can be very uncomfortable especially if you have an unheated basement. To get around this problem, you might want to consider radiant floor heating. When you make use of this type of heating, you can place a natural wooden floor or wood laminate a few inches above it to make the basement feel and look comfortable.
If there is one room in the house that you want to make sure that you do right, it is the basement. Lots of heads may be turning about this statement, but the truth of the matter is that there is no other room in the house that will add more value to your home than the basement. That being the case, you will want to make sure that you choose the right basement flooring option during your remodel.
The reason that the basement is so valuable to your home is because when it is finished, you have created another living space that is usually not part of most people's homes. In most cases, the basement is nothing more than another room to throw their junk into and do some laundry. This is actually not that bad of a thing as this is what many people expect when they walk into a home.
The final touch to any basement is going to be the flooring that you choose to accent the room with. Believe it or not, concrete can still be a very viable option. In order to make it attractive, you will have to finish and maintain it, but when done properly, it can be the most attractive of all the choices.
