Finished basement

[Nite Owl]

My basement is finished, the walls all wallboard etc. There is carpet down there that is really, really dirty from the kids etc. I think it is glued down to the cement so can it be steam cleaned or will that make it all bumpy?

I'm considering replacing it if it doesn't get clean and was thinking of wood laminate or ceramic tile. I plan on selling this house in a year maybe two depending on the market so I don't want to spend a whole lot. If it is feasible to do the laminate does the cement need to be leveled from the glue with plywood or something like that? It's a walkout basement and I've been here for five years and it is dry.

Personally I like linoleum but don't think that would help in selling the house.

Any ideas?

[Stinky The Clown]

1. You don't say how long the existing carpet has been down ....

And if it is jute backed or rubber backed. Since you say it is glued down, I'm thinking it is either unbacked or rubber backed. If rubber backed and it has been down a while, I'd be afraid it couldn't stand up to a steam cleaning.

I should think you could rip it up and expose the concrete. From there, scraping up some glue residue may be a nightmare .... or a piece of cake. Some of it depends on what will go down next. If you need a perfectly smooth surface or if you can tolerate some smallish bumps.

Laminate needs a vapor barrier over concrete, even in a seemingly dry basement. No biggie. They sell a roll product that goes under the laminate. Roll it out, overlap and tape the seams, and you should be good to go. Just check with your laminate manufacturer/dealer. Most laminate will tolerate this, but some low end stuff is not rated for below grade or concrete slab installation.

[Nite Owl]

2. I'm pretty sure that

it is jute backed and some foam padding under it. Tomorrow I'll try ripping up a corner. It's a berber type carpet. The house is about 14yrs old but I think the previous owner, the builder, finished it later as the carpet looked rather new when we moved in five yrs ago.

I saw the vapor barrier stuff, it was very inexpensive. I told the guy that it was for a basement and he said it would work I just don't know if he was trying to make a sale or being truthful though. It was very inexpensive, 10yr warranty compared to 30 or so on the better quality.

[Nite Owl]

5. Just got a corner up and

it doesn't appear to be glued at all! There are the wood strips nailed into the concrete and a green padding than the carpet is sort of tucked around the wood. It is jute backed. So I will try to clean it and if it doesn't work the wood laminate should work with the vapor barrier. Before this happens everything has to get cleaned out, ugg. If it gets clean it would save a lot of money.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Well there ya go!

Sounds as if you have a very comfortable starting point. Try to clean that carpet. If that fails, price out the replacement of the carpet against the cost for laminate and pick what suits you best.

[NMDemDist2]

3. why not just paint the concrete? they have some really nice paint

treatments available now that mimic stone or tile

and it's darned easy to clean :rofl:

and then you can add throw rugs as needed for your climate and usage

check out some of these pics and google "concrete stains"

http://www.kemiko.com/photo_gallery.htm#

[Nite Owl]

4. I love the way it looks AZ

but I'm upstate NY, that concrete would get pretty damned cold in the winter me thinks!

[NMDemDist2]

8. that's why you buy nice area rugs for the winter

:shrug:

I have laminate in my mobile home and it's cold as chit in the winter, I have a couple large area rugs I put down every winter to keep our toesies warm and roll them up in summer and enjoy the cool floors

[Grateful for Hope]

7. Excellent suggestion, AZ

And, I went and looked at the site you referenced. What wonderful treatments for cement!

I must admit that I had not thought of the cold factor (despite the fact that I live in "upstate" NY). I guess I have lot to learn.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. that's what I would do too

cheap, durable and endless options for design.