When making a sub floor in the basement canes anything need to go between floor and wood?
Question:Lke my basement id old and I want to like make it look nicer. So I want to put some cheap panneling over the existging walls, ands I want to put a linolium or some other sort of floor down. Currently it is old old old cement floor. I want to put plywood on top of this old concrete and than put my chosen flooring on top of the plywood. Should i put like some plastic or something between the plywood and concrete, or do i need to leave some space like a half inch between the concrete and plywood soo the concrete can "Breate"
Answers:
If your floor is level, a tile (ceramic or vinyl) floor laid directly on clean concrete is flood resistant, looks good and won't require underflooring costs. you can always throw a rug on top to keep your feet warm.
If your floor is not level, you can level it with leveling concrete cheaply, but make sure you have enough concrete mix, good screeting tools and enough time to do a good job
If you go ahead with plywood, cheap plastic sheeting for underlay is plenty for a 50 year floor.
Hi,
If you contact your local DIY or builders merchants they should have a damp proof membrane on the roll.
It is usually a black 'rot proof' plastic .
Put that down first then use 2" x 2" treated timber batons to lay your floor on.
By doing this you will stop damp rising and if you happen to spill water or coffee on the floor it will have space to air under it.
It will also be warmer with the floor raised a little bit rather than on the concrete floor.
Take care to make sure your batons are level and any gaps between the baton and floor should be packed out before you put boards on top or your floor will flex and bounce up and down.
Skip
with the basement floor being concrete all you need to do is lay the flooring you want. Vinyl, tile and wood can all be glued directly to the concrete and if you go with laminate it will have a sound barrier that is sold with it. You don't have to put a wood subfloor down before any of this flooring.
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