We currently have laminate flooring in our basement, which appears to be installed directly on the concrete floors. We haven't noticed any moisture issues in the 3 years we've been here; we had some "musty smell" issues in the summer with the A/C running, but a dehumidifier took care of that.
We want to carpet the basement now. We're toying with the idea of putting adhesive carpet tiles directly on the laminate flooring; it's certainly an easy solution, and cost effective for us since we could do it ourselves (instead of having someone tear up the laminate, put down subflooring/padding, etc).
Is this a bad idea?
Best Answer
Give the history you know of with the home, it's probably not a concern. I'd ask the carpet manufacturer how it affects your warranty, though. As easy as laminate is to remove, it might be worth doing.
One drawback to the adhesive tiles--if your basement floods you can't lift the carpet to dry things and salvage it. I've been involved with several basement floods (clean water, not sewage) where we were able to lift the carpet, remove the pad where it's saturated, blow-dry the concrete and carpet, and reinstall the carpet. You can't tell it happened, and this was light-colored plush. Obviously that wouldn't be possible with glue-down tiles. Just something to consider.