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Ideas For Basement Remodel (awesome flooring options)
Updated: Oct 10, 2022
Ideas For Basement Remodel (awesome flooring options)
It's time to clean up that basement and make it that awesome entertainment room that you've always dreamed about. Where do you start? Do you need some decorating inspiration? How do you know what sort of materials to buy? When it comes to ideas for basement remodel that involve flooring, you have come to the right place! This article is all about our favorite basement floors.
Are you ready to get inspired?
Ideas For Basement Remodel (awesome flooring options)
When it comes to picking out a basement floor, there is some good news. With a few exceptions, almost any kind of floor will work.
Being below-grade, basement concrete floors are very prone to moisture issues (we'll take about this later in the article). So, you'll want to make sure you pick out a floor that can handle being below-grade, and not cause you mold and mildew issues.
Similar to picking out flooring for other rooms in your home, before you start shopping, it's always a good idea to identify the goals of your project. Let's take a look at some of the items you should figure out BEFORE you start shopping:
Your Budget: There really is no point in looking at materials that you can't afford. You need to sit down and determine how much money you are willing to spend on flooring. Are you going to pay in cash, or are you looking to finance the project? Some stores offer financing, while other stores do not. These are important factors to determine. We have a great blog article, "How To Buy Flooring For Your Home," that does a great job walking you through this process (the right way).
Basement Traffic & Use: Is your basement very rarely used, and you're just fixing it up to sell the house? Or, is your basement going to get a done of foot traffic by your family? Is your basement a TV room, where everyone will be sitting on the sofa/chairs watching movies, or is your basement a big game room, with a pool & ping-pong table? These questions are important to help you determine the best type of floor for you.
Moisture: Have you had moisture issues in your basement? Is it 50/50 every time it rains on whether or not you'll have a water problem? The last thing you want to do is put new carpet in your basement, only to have it get damaged during the next rain storm.
After you have these preliminary issues figured out, now it's time to start shopping around for flooring. Let's take a look at some of our favorite product categories, as well as some of our favorite product options.
Our Favorite LVT & LVP Products
Luxury vinyl tile (LVT) & luxury vinyl plank (LVP) represent a great flooring option for basements. These products are very durable, they have an easy click together installation, they are scratch resistant, and most importantly, they are waterproof.
LVT & LVP are one of the fastest growing product lines in the floor covering world. Go in to any flooring retail store, and take a look at how much retail space is dedicated to LVT & LVP. Stores have seen the rapid growth of these products, and allocate a huge percentage of retail space to this category of products.
LVT & LVP are very affordable products, and there are a ton of different styles and colors. You can usually find a product in this market category for any budget.
Karndean Flooring Luxury Vinyl Tile & Plank
If looking for a durable hard surface floor, you might consider looking at Karndean Design Flooring. Karndean has a wonderful line of both luxury vinyl tile (LVT), and luxury vinyl plank (LVP) flooring.
Unlike some of the other LVT/LVP floors, you get what you pay for with Karndean. Their product line is absolutely stunning. Wide and long boards that give your room a fabulous look, wonderful styles that are crisp and clear, as well as offering a large product line that is very easy to maintain.
Karndean Flooring has a lifetime warranty, their products are scratch resistant, waterproof, easy to clean, and stain resistant. For more information on their family friendly warranty, you can visit their website at: Karndean Flooring
Karndean is certainly one of the industry leaders in quality and realistic products. Karndean is on the upper-end of the price point range, but you will certainly get an awesome looking product that your guests will love. It should be noted this product line is not available in every floor covering store. You will want to call ahead to stores before shopping for a Karndean Floor.
Karndean is a great product for the basement that gets heavy use, and in a household that entertains on a regular basis.
Armstrong Empower Rigid Core Flooring with Diamond 10 Technology
We love the designs and colors of the Armstrong Empower Rigid Core Flooring Product Line. This would be a great addition to a basement remodel. The products come with extra-long length boards, they have both wide and mixed width planks, and they have several unique planks per box, which takes away from board repeats during the installation process.
The product line is scratch resistant and waterproof. A perfect floor to handle pet spills and the occasional horse-play behavior that always seems to happen when a home has a young pup around the house.
Armstrong has 12 Empower Products that will give you a huge selection to chose from when picking out your living room flooring. Each product is waterproof, stain proof and very easy to clean. Armstrong Flooring
Shaw, Floorte Vinyl Plank Flooring
If you are searching for a vinyl plank floor, Shaw Floorte would be a great choice to look at. This product comes in a 20mil wear layer, with an attached pad. It is extremely well priced, and it comes in a variety of colors and styles. This would be the perfect hard surface choice for a basement remodel on a budget. Likewise, if you're remodeling with the idea of selling your home, Shaw Floorte is a great option. It's a very pretty floor that won't break the bank account.
Shaw Floorte is waterproof, kid and pet friendly, and scratch resistant. It comes with an easy click together installation.
These products can sometimes be difficult to locate in stores. The Floorte product line is sometimes mixed in with other Shaw samples in a large display rack.
Installation Tip: Earlier in this article we talked about moisture in basements. Before you purchase an LVT or LVP floor, make sure you discuss the moisture issue with your floor covering store. They might recommend putting down a moisture barrier pad prior to the installation.
Our Favorite Carpets
Mohawk Authentic Escape Carpet
The benefit of this carpet is the price point, along with the added SmartStrand Technology (we have a great article, "SmartStrand Carpet Cleaning Guide," that really explains more about SmartStrand Carpet). Mohawk uses their SmartStrand Technology on many different carpets, all with different price points. This particular carpet, Authentic Escape, would be wonderful option for the ideas for basement remodel - on a budget.
A soft carpet with built-in stain and soil protection.
Softness due to the soft nylon construction
Great for families with pets
Shaw Carpet - R2X Stain & Soil Resistance System
When you have that occasional pet "accident," you need to have a carpet that will perform. The patented Shaw R2X system is one of the best carpet fiber protection systems in the market place.
This makes R2X an awesome carpet for that busy basement floor. If you will be entertaining in your basement, you won't find a better carpet to handle drink and food spills.
Shaw Flooring offers this protection system on a variety of products. You won't have any problem finding the right style, color or price point when it comes to shopping for your perfect R2X carpet.
According to Shaw Floors:
"Pick a carpet offering R2X Stain and Soil Resistance treatment. It’s Shaw’s patented and proven system that shields your carpet well below the surface—because the entire fiber is protected, from base to tip, against stains. There is simply no better stain and soil protection in the flooring industry."
You can learn more about this wonderful carpet protection system here: The Shaw R2X Stain & Soil Resistance System.
Our Favorite Engineered Hardwood Floors
Hardwood flooring can be tricky when it comes to basement flooring. You can not put 3/4 solid hardwood in a basement. but, if you want hardwood in your basement, there is good news. Engineered hardwood is a terrific product that will work just fine in a basement.
Bella Cera Engineered Hardwood Flooring
When it comes to hardwood flooring, Bella Cera Hardwood Flooring has a line of products that is vastly different than your typical bargain store or box store brands. If you're wanting that fancy looking basement floor, Bela Cera would be a great option.
For example, Bella Cera's hand-scraped product line is actually hand-scraped. Each board is a one-of-a-kind piece, making it distinctly different than your typical machine-scraped products.