Basement Flooring Ideas

Planning to revamp your basement? Here are some useful basement flooring ideas and suggestions which you can incorporate in your designs…
Basement Flooring Ideas
While designing your basement you should know that the basement flooring is one of the most important aspects of the furnishings. Here I will discuss some basement flooring ideas and suggestions that you can use to deck up your basement floors.

Before you start thinking of basement flooring ideas, you need to think of a few things. First of all, think what you want to do with the basement? Are you planning to make it a storage room, a guest bedroom, or a gaming/hobby room? Think what you want to do with it, since that decision will affect the type of flooring required in the basement area. Once you have decided what you want to turn your basement into, you can pick out a flooring style, which meets all the requirements. While evaluating different basement flooring ideas you need to think of the following things:
  • Area measurement: – You need to have an estimate of the floor area in order to choose a flooring option which is feasible for the area under consideration.
  • Water resistance: It is very important to make sure whether or not you require a flooring option that is water resistant. Since areas, which are prone to water leakage and flooding cannot afford to have water sensitive flooring.
  • Fire resistance: It is always a safe option to pick a flooring option that is resistant to fire attacks.
  • Budget: You have to think about the budget and decide on a rough financial estimate, which you are willing to spend on the basement flooring. Your budget will also play a major part in deciding the type of flooring option you pick.
  • Style: You will have to think about a particular theme or style you are incorporating in your basement. Flooring has to be in line with the other interior design elements.
  • Durability: Depending on the kind of usage you intend for your basement, the flooring has to be durable and should need minimum maintenance over time.
Having discussed the things to be kept in mind before finalizing your flooring, we can now discuss the options available for basement flooring:

Basement Flooring Idea 1 # Wood Flooring

Wood flooring is a great option for basement areas that are not susceptible to water or excessive humidity. Of course there are options where you can make your wood flooring water resistant, but that increases the overall cost of the flooring. Wood floorings can be hard wood or soft wood. As for the flooring styles, you can install parquet squares, planks or strip flooring according to your choice. The wood flooring makes your basement flooring easy to vacuum or sweep. Wood flooring gives a place a warm and cozy look, however it can be a bit slippery when wet or even when dry. The wood flooring is considered to be quite durable and requires re-finishing or maintenance after around five years or so.

Basement Flooring Idea 2 # Carpet Flooring

Carpet flooring is another convenient option for your basement flooring. There are several carpeting options like sea grass, jute, or coir. One major problem with carpeting floors is that it cannot be washed, however it can be vacuumed or cleaned with a broom. Some of these varieties get stained easily and even fade with time. In case you don’t like the carpeting idea, you can simply use an elegant rug for the basement. In addition there also exists an option of using durable rubber mats which are not only water proof and durable but also very economical.

Basement Flooring Idea 3 # Concrete

In case you are going for the concrete flooring, you can simply paint on the concrete floors to give your basement flooring a simple yet colorful touch. Concrete flooring can be cleaned with a damp mop and require minimum maintenance over the years. Concrete flooring might be a little hard underfoot and also slippery when wet. However the slipperiness can be overcome by incorporating a texture to the flooring. Concrete flooring is an economical flooring option.

Basement Flooring Idea 4 # Mosaic Tile/Ceramic Tiles

Using ceramic tiles or mosaic tiles is a very popular idea for basement flooring. Tiled flooring is easy to clean with damp mops and requires maintenance only after excessive use over the years. The tiled flooring gives a very elegant look to the room and can seem too extravagant for a game room or a hobby room. The tiled flooring is also very slippery when wet.

After having read about all the basement flooring ideas, remember that no matter which type of flooring you decide to incorporate in your basement, always pick an option that is comfortable, economical, stylish and requires minimum maintenance. Do not hesitate to invest in expensive options that guarantee longer durability, and better quality, after all you only want to choose the best options for your home, be it your drawing room or your basement.
   By Uttara Manohar
Published: 5/1/2008
 
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