perforated floor tiles (for my basement...)

[Fish-man]

My idea is to use the perforated floor tiles in my basement over the concrete slab & under carpet. I just don't want to trap any moisture coming up thru and don't want carpet just sitting on the 'crete. Don't know if I want to try anything that "vents" horizontally only (Dricore subfloor). And I am not too interested in having someone come in to coat the floor (epoxy etc.) - it will still be cold to touch and can crack with the floor.

What y'all think?

Thanks

 

[moogoob]

Holmes on Homes always sandwiches some orange matt between the crete and floor panels.

 

[Fish-man]

Holmes on Homes always sandwiches some orange matt between the crete and floor panels.

anyone else know of this? i went to the webstie for holmes and couldn't find... also went to their forum and it requires you to register just to look around in the forum (just what i need)

 

[nissan_crawler]

People have been laying carpet on basement concrete for years with no trouble, why re-invent the wheel?

 

[Fish-man]

People have been laying carpet on basement concrete for years with no trouble, why re-invent the wheel?

'cuz if i get a little water down there, i might have a chance that the carpet doesn't get wet...

my sump pump runs 2x every hour... all year 'round

 

[nissan_crawler]

If you get water in there, that carpet is getting wet unless those tiles are 4" high with aeration under them. That, or you'll have mold under it.

Your basement floor would have to be 100% perfectly sloped to the sump pump with enough slope that water ran freely, and have aeration under the tiles, before it would do any good.

Again, I don't see the point.

If you're that worried, lay tile and use area rugs. Heck, you can even put heaters under the tile.

Or, just be prepared to pull the carpet out, dry it, and re-stretch it. We did it twice, never had a problem.

 

[moogoob]

this is the stuff.
http://www.schluter.com/6_1_ditra.aspx
Used for tiles, but i'm pretty sure i saw it used for a basement floor too.

 

[Kevin54]

My idea is to use the perforated floor tiles in my basement over the concrete slab & under carpet. I just don't want to trap any moisture coming up thru and don't want carpet just sitting on the 'crete.

Moisture is moisture and with that comes mildew. If you already have moisture coming thru then laying something down between the carpet and the floor will not help. The moisture will still be absorbed into the carpet. to eliminate that, you would need to put down a vapor barrier, some 2x sleepers (2 x 2 or 2 x 4) and the plywood or sub flooring of your choice.

 

[Fish-man]

Moisture is moisture and with that comes mildew. If you already have moisture coming thru then laying something down between the carpet and the floor will not help. The moisture will still be absorbed into the carpet. to eliminate that, you would need to put down a vapor barrier, some 2x sleepers (2 x 2 or 2 x 4) and the plywood or sub flooring of your choice.

Actually the moisture isn't too bad... I place some drywall down on the basement floor a couple years ago and see no problems with mildew/mold.

My BIGGEST concern is if my sump pump and battery backup pump both fail and I don't find out soon enough (I do check things a few times a week)... I know that water will come up thru cracks etc. It happened once and it wasn't too bad only a couple spots where the cement was wet with only about 1/16" of water. I really doubt it will get deeper than a half inch or so, since there are a couple drains in the floor that go to the sewer and water should flow into them evenually.

Not interested in putting down a vapor barrier- any moisture or water will get trapped there and that will be where the mildew/mold will form. I have no doubt that would happen.

I think the carpet will have much better chance of letting the cement floor air out if it is sitting on a perforated elevation and not on cold cement.