Help Choosing the Right Basement Flooring

[Jsct01]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice on selecting the best flooring for my basement. Here’s some background on the space:

• It’s a walkout basement in the back but below grade in the front.

• The house was built in 1993, and we are the second owners. We purchased it in 2019. The original owners finished the basement when the house was built.

• The basement has drywall with fiberglass insulation and originally had carpet with a felt pad glued down.

• After purchasing the home, we removed the carpet and padding, scraping up the glue as part of the process. However, remnants of the tan-colored carpet glue remain on the concrete slab. The glue is water-soluble— I found out when walking on the floor with wet boots that when it gets wet, it turns white. It runs about a foot wide along the walls and roughly two feet wide in the middle of the floor.

• The slab isn’t perfectly level, and there’s a raised area where concrete was patched over a bathroom sewer pipe.


I have two main questions:

1. Since the house was built in 1993, is there any risk that the carpet glue contains asbestos?

2. What type of flooring would be best for this space, and would I need to level the floor before installation?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Floorist]

The carpet glue would not contain asbestos. It was the old black mastic that had it. If the floor is uneven, about all you can do is put carpet back or carpet tiles. Laminate and LVP both need an even floor.

 

[MSLI]

I’m not a ceramic installer, but if they can ramp down to a drain, they can probably ramp up to a Ridge. Ideally grinding that ridge out would be best, but if not possible, I believe ceramic tile or porcelain tile is doable. The best advantage of putting tile down is its ability to withstand moisture problems. Then perhaps area carpets for warmth and comfort, that could be rolled up in case of water problems. So if the budget allows, I would do porcelain tile, But wait for my colleagues to validate that idea.

 

[Floorist]

I’m not a ceramic installer, but if they can ramp down to a drain, they can probably ramp up to a Ridge. Ideally grinding that ridge out would be best, but if not possible, I believe ceramic tile or porcelain tile is doable. The best advantage of putting tile down is its ability to withstand moisture problems. Then perhaps area carpets for warmth and comfort, that could be rolled up in case of water problems. So if the budget allows, I would do porcelain tile, But wait for my colleagues to validate that idea.

They would have to get the rest of the carpet glue off the concrete to install any tile.

 

[Jsct01]

They would have to get the rest of the carpet glue off the concrete to install any tile.

The tile guy I used for my bathroom said he has a thinset that would work but I dont see how since the glue is water based. What’s left of the glue doesn’t even really scrape up when I tried with a blade because it is so thin. Would it need to be shot bladed off?

 

[Jsct01]

The carpet glue would not contain asbestos. It was the old black mastic that had it. If the floor is uneven, about all you can do is put carpet back or carpet tiles. Laminate and LVP both need an even floor.

With carpet would input a vapor barrier underneath like the DMX one step or something similar? Any carpet tiles that you would recommend?

 

[Floorist]

With carpet would input a vapor barrier underneath like the DMX one step or something similar? Any carpet tiles that you would recommend?

I hope one of the guys still working answers. I am retired and some of the products have changed.