10 Best Basement Floors

Even when the weather is dry, basement flooring does not follow standard rules. Due to its proximity to the ground, it might leach residual moisture in vapor. Some basements can also experience up-to-your-ankles flooding during heavy rains. So, along with appearance and comfort, an essential concern with basement flooring is moisture: how to avoid it and how well the floor will dry out if it does become wet.

Read on to learn about the best basement flooring options, including their pros and cons, cost considerations, and installation.

5 Qualities of Good Basement Floors

All basements are below grade. Below-grade flooring does not refer to cheap, substandard flooring. Commonly used by contractors and builders, the word grade is another term for ground level. Flooring above grade is safer from water vapor migration. Above-grade flooring is safe, too, from most normal instances of flooding. Everything at or below grade is at risk of water vapor damage, groundwater intrusion, and flooding.

1. Hard material: Hard materials like tile and concrete tend to outperform soft materials like carpets in basements. If the basement is dry enough, though, soft materials can work.
2. Inorganic materials: Organic materials like woolen carpeting will grow mold and begin to rot away when subjected to water over time. Inorganic materials work better in basements than organic materials. Tile, concrete, and vinyl are all inorganic materials. Solid hardwood, even though it is a hard material, does not work well in basements because it is 100 percent organic. Inorganic materials may grow mold, but they will not deteriorate.
3. Fewer layers: Monolithic, single-layer floors are easier to dry out than multi-layered floor systems. A classic example of a monolithic floor is concrete. Not only does it have the advantage of being hard and inorganic, but it also does not have multiple layers that can trap water.
4. Raised subfloor: Some below-grade flooring requires a raised subfloor. This can be a subfloor system or a traditional sleeper system built from scratch out of plywood and two-by-fours. Carpeting benefits from a raised subfloor, and installing a laminate floor on a subfloor system enhances its performance.
5. De-moisturizing solutions: Many homeowners experience humid basements. However, moisture can be controlled with dehumidifiers.

Sheet Vinyl Flooring

Vinyl flooring, also known as resilient flooring, ranks with concrete and ceramic tile as one of the better basement flooring options. It comes in sheet, tile, or plank form, and there is a subtle difference.

Sheet vinyl flooring creates a nearly seamless, water-impervious surface on your basement floor, which is always a good thing where moisture might be involved. Tile vinyl flooring has multiple seams that may invite moisture infiltration if water is left standing long enough.

Installation and Cost

Resilient flooring is a cost-effective option. It handles wear and tear well and rarely needs repair. Sheet vinyl flooring averages $.50 to $1.50 per square foot, while vinyl tiling averages $1.50 to $3 per square foot.

Installing sheet vinyl is difficult, as the sheets are large and awkward. They require adhesive to be troweled onto the underlayment and then compression with a heavy roller to secure the bond. Special techniques are required to join the seams. It is best to get an expert to install it. Since it’s a relatively inexpensive product, it’s one of the least expensive flooring types to install professionally.

Pros

• Keeps water at bay
• Inexpensive
• Warm to the touch

Cons

• Considered a cheap fix
• Difficult DIY project
• Adhesive difficult to remove

Ceramic or Porcelain Tile Flooring

Of all the basement flooring options, tile represents the best of many worlds. It qualifies as a finished surface, meaning that it is not a raw surface like concrete. Yet this finished surface is attractive on its own; it needs no additional treatment, as concrete does.

Ceramic or porcelain tile can be installed directly on your concrete slab. Because tile on concrete can be cold, radiant heating can be sandwiched between the concrete and the tile to warm the tile surface.

Though ceramic tile can be installed directly on the concrete slab, it’s usually best to install an uncoupling membrane first. The membrane lets the concrete slab move and crack independently of the upper tile floor. It won’t buffer the tile from all cracks, though. A crack that’s sizable enough will pass through the membrane and will affect the tile.

Installation and Cost

Porcelain tiles are more expensive than ceramic tiles. Porcelain is made of very fine clay, reducing its porosity or water permeability. On average, porcelain tiles cost $3 to $46 per square foot, while ceramic tiles, made of a coarser clay, cost $1 to $30 per square foot.

Porcelain and clay tiles are installed using a mortar-based thin-set adhesive. Once set, the mortar-based grout fills the joints between the tiles. A wet tile saw is required to cut porcelain tiles to fit.

Pros

• Easily dries out
• DIY project possible
• No rot

Cons

• May need radiant heating
• Loud
• Cracking possible

Engineered Wood Flooring

Since wood is derived from trees and is organic, it does not stand up well to prolonged moisture. Thus, solid hardwood is one of the worst basement flooring options. But engineered wood flooring is a different story. Engineered wood flooring is considered dimensionally stable, as its cross-hatched plywood base below the real wood veneer maintains its shape when subjected to limited amounts of moisture.

Installation and Cost

Engineered hardwood flooring costs around $2.50 per square foot for click-lock-style planks in lower-cost wood species like oak or maple. The typical range is $3 to $10 per square foot, with most types falling in the $6 to $7 per square foot range.

Some engineered wood flooring is installed using the same nail-down methods as solid hardwood. However, click-lock engineered wood floors are also installed as floating floors. Engineered wood flooring can also be glued down against a concrete subfloor. When professionally installed, labor costs range from $3 to $8 per square foot.

Pros

• Some moisture is okay
• Attractive
• Absorbs sound

Cons

• Needs a subfloor
• Expensive
• Difficult to remove

Luxury Vinyl Plank or Tile

Luxury vinyl flooring is a more recent resilient flooring category than the conventional floating floor fashion. Another significant difference is that luxury vinyl flooring can look remarkably similar to the material it replicates, whether wood or stone.

Wood-look luxury vinyl comes in planks around 6 inches by 48 inches. Because it is relatively thick, it can be deeply embossed for a texture that more closely resembles natural wood grain. Stone-look luxury vinyl tile aims to replicate the look of slate, travertine, marble, and other popular stones in vinyl tile. Stone-look luxury vinyl comes in 16-inch by 16-inch or smaller square shapes.

Installation and Cost

Prices for vinyl planks usually range from $2.50 to $5 per square foot. Professional installation can add $1 to $3 per square foot, but this is one of the more accessible flooring materials to install yourself—comparable to plastic laminate flooring planks. Vinyl tiles average $1.50 to $3 per square foot. Peel-and-stick vinyl tiles are the easiest for DIYers to install—cutting out the professional installation costs.

Vinyl plank flooring (also known as luxury vinyl) is one of the simplest types of flooring to install. It is easy to cut, requires no bonding to the subfloor, and snaps together edge-to-edge and end-to-end. While interlocking planks are easy for DIYers, vinyl peel-and-stick flooring is perhaps the easiest.

Pros

• Easy to DIY
• Thicker than sheet vinyl
• Easy to remove

Cons

• Lower resale value
• Leaking possible
• Relatively high cost

Concrete Flooring

With changing attitudes toward utilitarian surfaces, concrete has come into wider acceptance by homeowners. Concrete does not have to remain in its raw state. It can be painted or stained to give it a different appearance. If extensive patching is needed, painting is the only way to cover the patches.

Installation and Cost

Concrete flooring ranges from $2 per square foot for a basic to $30 or more for high-end artistically rendered floors. A primary treatment is pouring concrete into a slab and then polishing and staining it. The price increases for elaborate color treatments, stamping, texturizing, or creating patterns.

Large concrete slabs are difficult for do-it-yourselfers to pour. When the concrete slab exceeds 25 square feet, it’s probably time to call a concrete professional. Polishing concrete floors requires special tools, like a concrete grinder and a chemical densifying treatment.

Pros

• Moisture-hardy
• Few materials needed
• No subfloor

Cons

• Cold
• Loud
• May leach moisture

Plank Tile Flooring

Plank-sized porcelain tile flooring is impervious to moisture and, with its sharply rendered graphics, looks surprisingly like real wood. It is popular and well-regarded as a highly durable surface.

Plank tile flooring is so durable that it is increasingly being installed in high-traffic areas like restaurants and other commercial spaces. The chief difference between plank tile and conventional tile is that plank’s edges are rectified. These 90-degree edges mean tiles are fitted edge-to-edge, with no mortared grout lines.

Installation and Cost

Ceramic tile starts at about $1 per square foot and ranges to $20 per square foot for designer porcelain tiles. Professional installation can cost between $5 and $17 per square foot. While ceramic tile installation is labor-intensive, plenty of DIYers tackle this work successfully.

Ceramic or porcelain tiles are installed with a thin-set adhesive to glue down the tiles over a cement board underlayment. Tiles are cut using a tool that scores and snaps the tiles or with a power-wet saw. The joints between tiles are filled with mortar-based grout and sealed after it dries completely.

Pros

• Attractive
• Waterproof
• Rectified edges

Cons

• Expensive
• Cold
• Difficult to remove

Wall-to-Wall Carpeting

Wall-to-wall carpeting is often considered a poor flooring material in bathrooms. Carpeting dries slowly and can develop mold and mildew. When wet, it feels mushy and uncomfortable. But does this mean that carpet is also a bad basement flooring option?

Basements generally have less moisture than the average bathroom, except for extreme flooding. With the installation of a solid subfloor system, wall-to-wall carpeting in basements can be installed.

Carpeting in basements should be installed on a case-by-case basis. If your basement is completely dry throughout the year, carpeting may last up to a decade. But be prepared to replace the entire carpet in a water-based catastrophe, like exterior flooding, a broken pipe, or a leaky water heater.

Installation and Cost

Carpeting costs vary between synthetics like nylon and olefin, which start at about $1 to $2 per square foot. Installation can range from $3 to $10 per square foot to install the carpeting. Another option is “installation included” offers, which may mean the installation cost is worked into the per-square-foot price of the carpeting.

Installers may need to fix the subfloor, install a carpet pad, remove old carpeting, and handle seams or room transitions, which is often too much for do-it-yourselfers, although some handy people make it a DIY project.

Pros

• Warm flooring option
• Good sound quality
• Good for small children

Cons

• Expensive
• Low durability
• Difficult to dry out

Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring is more attractive than ever due to improved image layer graphics and thicker surfaces for deeper embossing. But underneath, it is still susceptible to moisture problems. When laminate’s base material comes into prolonged contact with water, it will swell up and stay that way permanently. No amount of drying will cause the laminate to return to its previous size. In addition, the top image and wear layers will begin to peel off. The only way to fix water-damaged laminate flooring is to replace it altogether.

Installing a proper subfloor system can make conventional laminate flooring in the basement work. The subfloor and the laminate’s foam underlayment protect against water vapor coming up from the concrete slab. Also, in the event of very minor flooding, the subfloor system will elevate the laminate flooring above the water. 

If installing laminate flooring, it’s always best to use a raised subfloor. However, if moisture is not a problem, laminate flooring can be installed directly on the concrete slab with an intervening layer of foam underlayment.

Installation and Cost

It costs about $3 to $13 per square foot to have a laminate floor professionally installed. The material costs, including the flooring and underlayment, are about $1 to $5 per square foot.

Laminate flooring is one of the easiest floors for DIYers to install since it doesn’t require gluing, nailing, or screwing. It’s put together using tongue-and-groove connectors, a relatively straightforward process. DIY-installed laminate flooring is an excellent way to reduce flooring costs.

Pros

• Warm basement flooring option
• Easy DIY installation
• Fair sound absorption

Cons

• Susceptible to water damage
• Hollow feeling underfoot
• Can build up static electricity

Rubber Flooring

Rubber flooring is commonly associated with gyms, garages, dance or martial arts studios, and pools. Can rubber flooring work in basements, too?

Rubber flooring works great if your basement is intended to be a play space or home gym. Where it doesn’t work is in formal living spaces for aesthetic reasons. Roll rubber, found at commercial gyms, offers the fewest seams. Interlocking rubber tiles cost about the same and are easy for homeowners to install since they fit together like a puzzle.

Installation and Cost

Rubber flooring tiles are straightforward to install, so you can lay the flooring yourself and save the cost of hiring a contractor. Since rubber is thick and heavy, its weight holds it in place without requiring adhesive or extra padding. Rubber flooring is best installed as interlocking, puzzle-piece-looking tiles.

The price range for basic rubber tiles is $3 to $8 per square foot, and for more stylish, higher-end options, it can be up to $12 to $15.

Pros

• Good insulation
• Soft
• Stands up to moisture

Cons

• Only moderately attractive
• Water can pass through seams
• Low resale value

Cork Flooring

Cork flooring is a natural product derived from cork trees. Soft underfoot, comfortable to walk on, and warm, it would ordinarily fit below-grade areas. However, as an organic product subject to water damage, if you decide to install cork flooring in your basement, you would need to install a subfloor system.

Installation and Cost

Cork flooring planks or tiles, on average, cost from $3 to $9 per square foot, and the price varies depending on the manufacturer and quality level. It is relatively inexpensive to install, costing about $2 to $4 per square foot for a floating floor and about $4 to $8 for a glue-down installation. It’s another type of flooring you can install as a DIY project, saving some money on the overall flooring project.

Pros

• Temperature insulation
• Soft
• Absorbs sound

Cons

• Prone to deterioration
• Hard to DIY install
• Needs a subfloor