Basement make over

[Tylero17]

Hey everyone my names Tyler and im starting to gather information about flooring before i tackle my basement this winter. I dont know much about vinyl at all or flooring in general but i work plumbing / hvac and am required to do " handyman " task at times just from the nature of the job.

the floor im going to re do is in the basement and its currently carpet, talking to a couple guys at work somebody mentioned my best bet is a flooring that comes with a rubber or foam padding already glued to the back of the board since i cant lay it directly on the concrete.

i am also curious about the pattern. so to my understanding you do a row of full length boards and the next row you cut the first board in half and repeat. my basements a fairly open room but there is a off wall from the columns to divide the basement a little. how would i carry my pattern into those pockets to make sure the floor matches when it meets in the open area?

thanks in advance for any information you can lay down for me, i have all the tools to do this and i used to work fabrication welder so i understand mitered cuts etc, just want to get my ducks in order before i totally re arrange my basement and get stuck somewhere. its roughly a 5-600 sq foot room

 

[highup]

If you take the remaining piece left from your first row and use that to start your second row..... Well if you continue that process you will end up with something called stair stepping. The planks look much nicer in my opinion if the end joints are random.
Do you have a drawing of some sort as to the layout showing the rooms and the dimensions of the area you're going to cover?

 

[Tylero17]

If you take the remaining piece left from your first row and use that to start your second row..... Well if you continue that process you will end up with something called stair stepping. The planks look much nicer in my opinion if the end joints are random.
Do you have a drawing of some sort as to the layout showing the rooms and the dimensions of the area you're going to cover?

im away from town tonight but tomorrow morning when i get home i will draw something up to post on here

 

[highup]

That always helps us understand what you are up against.

 

[C.J.]

After you remove the carpet you need to check the floor for flatness. Use a straight edge, level, piece of base or something of the sorts to check for flatness. Fill in any low areas or grind down any high areas until you are within tolerance for your flooring.

Moisture testing? All concrete gives off residual moisture. How much depends on your specifics. A 6 mil vapor barrier is cheap insurance against moisture problems down the road.

I usually find the longest wall or longest run to base my layout off of. As @highup said a random stagger generally looks best as opposed to a 1,2,3 or a 1,2,3,4 type of pattern. It tends to look more natural like a real floor would look.

Get a decent product and you should be alright. Decent LVP starts at about $3+/ sq ft and goes up from there. The $.99/ $1.99 stuff is junk.

You got this. Post back with any questions. There’s tons of experience on this forum.