Basement Remodelling and Carpeting Tips; Choosing the Best Carpet for Basement Use

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As part of my home remodelling project, I wanted to convert my basement into more of a living space than just a storage area of sorts. After going through all the other remodelling activities such as getting more light and fresh air into the basement by adding a few window fans, I had to deal with the overall look of the room. Painting of the walls aside (we went with gray “oops” paint we found at Home Depot , 5 gallons for a whopping $9!!), I was left with the one part of the basement that seemed to take up more thought and work than I had bargained for; the floor. Even after getting it redone, I still needed to find a carpet to both provide warmth and to enhance the general look of the room. Plus, it had to be durable and possibly even hold up to water as our basement had been known to flood from time to time.  Something I had hoped I recently fixed by applying some silicon caulking around some pipes that came in through the wall from the exterior of the house. Once we were ready to carpet, we’d do some research into the best carpet for basement use.

First, I was looking to eliminate the possibility of any rotting/odours coming from a damp floor being covered by a carpet in below-grade room. For this, I asked around a couple of home improvement stores and did your basic internet search. Also, from experience I figured berber would be the best bet. Some suggested a vapour barrier but I didn’t give that much thought as it sounded complicated and adding price to my project. I was looking at both moisture that might seep in through the slab or moisture that might come about as a result of general dampness in the basement/environment. Even if I get the best carpet for basement use, it won’t matter if it’s exposed to dampness and generally lies in a place where it is left to rot and develop mildew. With that in mind, I did decide to do a little research on types of moisture barriers to use on the floor before putting down the carpet.

One of the main types of barrier layers which are used as the first layer in contact with the floor is dimpled polyethylene. Its dimples work to provide much needed air space and to also act as a moisture barrier for the area between the floor itself and the next level such as a carpet or plywood. I was advised to lay plywood as another layer before a carpet pad then the carpet itself if I felt that there was more risk of moisture seeping in from the concrete floor itself.  It was to acquired the dimpled polyethylene underlayment that was 6 micrometers thick; found from most home improvement stores and I understand that its also easily found at suppliers of flooring materials, hardware and even online.

Thereafter, a bit more research into reviews by home owners who had used a variety of carpets for their basement rooms led me to believe that Berber carpets are regarded as the best carpet for basement or below-grade rooms. I saw some samples and I must say that durability due to the strong fibres used to make them and the method of weaving used was evident. It also helps that they are highly stain resistant and felt very comfortable to the touch and had an exquisitely exotic look to it. We ended up finding some great Berber remnants for a few hundred bucks (if I recall exactly, I know it was pretty cheap and surprised me at the quality) at a local carpet retailer and had enough to carpet our entire basement.

This was several years ago and since then we had some moisture in our basement and had to pull up the carpet and dry it out. Our sump pump went on the fritz and our basement flooded. Of course this also meant we had to get rid of the padding. But the Berber remnant was still in great shape so we just let it lay without any padding for a few years. Then, I guess it was in 2010, we had new carpet installed throughout the house and pad the installers $70 to put padding back in and re-tack the basement carpet down. It’s turned out pretty nice and we’re pretty sure we picked the best carpet for us and our basement

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