Flooring question for those "constructurally inclined"

[primesuspect]

My new house is nice in almost all respects. One area that totally blows is the basement. It used to leak bad, then the previous owner installed the "B-Dry system" which involves digging a trench around the whole basement, putting loose gravel in the trenches, and then covering it with concrete, leaving a tiny (about 1/8" inch) gap around the whole thing. The channels lead to a sump. The idea is that the walls will leak, but all the water will go into the channels and into the sump. So far it has worked for over 8 years. The basement hasn't "flooded" - that is to say, no water has been on the main floor.

The floor is in bad shape. I will assume that it was damaged at some point with water, and then left alone after B-dry was installed. It is half linoleum tile, half old adhesive where tiles used to be. It's just a mess.

We want to renovate the basement. We want to install a new floor. The idea is something that will be waterproof (such as granite) and easy to clean, because we will eventually be turning into my wife's art studio. I am leaning towards granite of some sort.

My question is, what is the best way to go about this? Does any prep work need to be done to the existing floor, or can I just mortar over this and start laying granite tiles down?

My flooring experience is limited to laminate adhesive tiles. I've done two kitchens and an entire basement with tiles before. I've never done ceramic or granite.

Any advice?

[GnomeWizardd]

first thing is first strip the floor Then if its not level you might have to float out the floor. Best flooring the is cleanable and easy to install would be linolium BUt granite tiles wont be bad either. ceramic or granite will be a diff story. U dont want to mortar over it.

[Atltais]

Construct the floor entirely out of human hair.

That's just my suggestion, though.

[Armo]

u have got to get rid of all that adhesive and old tiles lenolium folds up like a card after water gets under it, to i wouldnt go with that unless you are cirtian you wont have leaks or it will pucker right up
I'd use a floor sealant like they sell @ lowes and put carpet down, if the carpet gets wet it aint **** to get it dry :) just do it fast or mushrooms will start growing out of the carpet:zombie:

/me worked for a water damage/flood damage/mold/fire restoration company

oh yea, if u use carpet use the more expensive rubber padding rated @ like 8lbs or more, water will dry right out of it

[primesuspect]

Neither of us really want carpet. So gnome, you're saying that if I level the floor, make sure the old linoleum tiles are stripped, all I have to do is lay new granite tiles down? Do you recommend a product to prep the surface before I do the tiles?

[GnomeWizardd]

dont really know the stuff you would use up there . Down here we strip the floor clean if it needs leveling we float the florr with thinset let it dry then just glue the stuff down

[csimon]

diamond blade etching and acid staining ...relatively inexpensive - it's the craze now days and you can always add granite right over it later if you want.

[primesuspect]

This needs to be a DIY project - diamond blade etching sounds out of my league. Acid staining sounds fun as hell though :rarr: ...

Care to elaborate? :D

[KingFish]

If you have home depots nearby I'd recommend attending one of their flooring classes. You'll pick up some good pointers there, they definitely helped us when we laid down stone tiles on our new bathroom.

[primesuspect]

oh yeah! I forgot about those. THey have those things all the time at the local home depot, I just never paid any attention to them.

[Clutch]

Well you need to make sure the floor is level for any new flooring. I would suggest maybe the laminate hardwood flooring. I used to work in the floorig dept. at Lowes so I got to learn a lot about flooring. It is a breeze to clean up and is pretty much impossible to scratch. Anyone can install it and it looks really good. Alot of houses here use it because of being at the beach the sand off of shoes, etc does not scratch it, as well as pets, etc..

[primesuspect]

I was thinking about that too, Clutch, but I think we're gonna end up doing Pergo/Laminate hardwood in the kitchen... I'm not sure yet....

[Clutch]

I was thinking about that too, Clutch, but I think we're gonna end up doing Pergo/Laminate hardwood in the kitchen... I'm not sure yet....


If I remember right, the pergo is not waterproof. I never sold pergo to customers because the warranty and all wasn't that great as well. I forgot the name of the other flooring, but I can run to Lowes to find out. I would not put Pergo in the kitchen because that, and the bathroom is the two rooms for most water and all. But Laminate flooring is teh win for sure.

[csimon]

This needs to be a DIY project - diamond blade etching sounds out of my league. Acid staining sounds fun as hell though :rarr: ...

Care to elaborate? :D
Well ...the diamond etching thing is nothing more than a skill saw with and expensive blade that can be rented. If you mark the floors with chalk lines in advance you should be finished in an hour or two and then you can bring it back. The acid stain is fairly simple too! Just pick a color and they mix it and you spread it. It cures in no time then you apply a sealer which probably takes the longest to cure. You might even spread a second coat.

I'm sure you have a paint store nearby that can walk you through step by step with no problem. I know a couple nearby that did their entire house for $500 but they provided their own saw and blade. They are very satisfied with the results.

I'll show you pics next month of my floors and you can get an idea. The end product is awesome really.

Oh yeah check out the pics of my columns before I finish them and put them into place when you get a chance! :thumbsup: