We are planning to lay laminate flooring in our basement and are wondering is there is anything we could lay down first for some warm< or should we put anything down? thanks Joan
Laminate flooring in basement
laminate
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Best Answer
Two major considerations for basement flooring are moisture and comfort. Moisture is the primary consideration -- concrete floors are cool and porous and will permit moisture to infiltrate from underneath and condense from above. Obviously, you'll want to keep standing moisture away from wooden floors to prevent damage. There are various methods of doing this, including simple plastic sheeting, rigid foam insulation + 1-2 layers of plywood subfloor, or products using a waterproof dimpled surface to lift the flooring off of the concrete and allowing it to breathe.
The insulation + plywood method would certainly add quite a bit of insulation (+ softness) to the floor. I can speak from experience that having laminate flooring directly on concrete (with or without a water/vapor barrier) does nothing for comfort -- the laminate itself has little R-value and the concrete floor acts like a giant heat sink 24/7/365. So wood + concrete = hard and cold.
So I would strongly recommend adding some type of insulation and subfloor, as part of a system that ensured it remained dry.