I don't know if this is the right group for this, so maybe someone can point
me to a better one. We are going to be putting carpet in our basement (here
in Denver, CO) over a typical concrete floor. We were wanting some
insulation between the concrete and the carpet and had heard of some
basement subfloor products. The two I've found so far are...
Delta-FL: http://www.deltams.com/deltafl/index.html
Dri-Core: http://www.dricore.com/
Neither of those companies has a distributor near us in Colorado, so that
made me wonder. Do people only put these products down if there is a
basement water leak concern, and not for insulation like what we had in
mind? Obviously in Colorado there's not much humidity, so I was just
wondering if this product isn't considered "necessary" here. The other
question I had is: Does a nice carpet and a thick pad provide enough
insulation to keep one's feet from getting cold (our concrete basement floor
is quite cold to the touch)?
Thanks for any advice,
PJ
A friend of mine installed the Delta product in their Basement here in
Cincinnati OH. Their main concernt was water. They had a few small leak
spots repaied before the remodel but they thought this was just extra
protection. It worked nice. It allows and air flow inder the floor. I
would think it would be a great insulator too. They covered it with OSB and
then padding and carpet. Seems to be very nice. And not too expensive.
"PJ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I don't know if this is the right group for this, so maybe someone can
point
> me to a better one. We are going to be putting carpet in our basement
(here
> in Denver, CO) over a typical concrete floor. We were wanting some
> insulation between the concrete and the carpet and had heard of some
> basement subfloor products. The two I've found so far are...
>
> Delta-FL: http://www.deltams.com/deltafl/index.html
> Dri-Core: http://www.dricore.com/
>
> Neither of those companies has a distributor near us in Colorado, so that
> made me wonder. Do people only put these products down if there is a
> basement water leak concern, and not for insulation like what we had in
> mind? Obviously in Colorado there's not much humidity, so I was just
> wondering if this product isn't considered "necessary" here. The other
> question I had is: Does a nice carpet and a thick pad provide enough
> insulation to keep one's feet from getting cold (our concrete basement
floor
> is quite cold to the touch)?
>
> Thanks for any advice,
> PJ
>
>
"PJ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks for all the posts. The one by Nate (in Boulder, near me) made me
> realize that all my drywall and baseboard trim is already installed with
the
But they did float (suspend) the walls, right??? Only the baseboard comes
close to the slab?
"PJ"
> Neither of those companies has a distributor near us in Colorado, so that
> made me wonder. Do people only put these products down if there is a
> basement water leak concern, and not for insulation like what we had in
> mind? Obviously in Colorado there's not much humidity, so I was just
> wondering if this product isn't considered "necessary" here. The other
> question I had is: Does a nice carpet and a thick pad provide enough
> insulation to keep one's feet from getting cold (our concrete basement
floor
> is quite cold to the touch)?
I live up in Boulder. Just carpeted my basement with a typical pile kind of
carpet. Carpet + pad seemed pretty adequate to me. Maybe you'd do this
option if you wanted a thinner industrial type of carpet - but seems you'd
be looking at a lot of work to your door bottoms and base trim. Might want
to add that into your estimate. Way high overhead with questionable return,
it seems, given our climate. I'm no connoisseur, but it seems as
comfortable as I'd want it to be down there with just carpet + pad. I think
ventilation and insulation are going to make a bigger difference in how cozy
you feel.
- Nate
"PJ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I don't know if this is the right group for this, so maybe someone can
point
> me to a better one. We are going to be putting carpet in our basement
(here
> in Denver, CO) over a typical concrete floor. We were wanting some
> insulation between the concrete and the carpet and had heard of some
> basement subfloor products. The two I've found so far are...
>
> Delta-FL: http://www.deltams.com/deltafl/index.html
> Dri-Core: http://www.dricore.com/
>
> Neither of those companies has a distributor near us in Colorado, so that
> made me wonder. Do people only put these products down if there is a
> basement water leak concern, and not for insulation like what we had in
> mind? Obviously in Colorado there's not much humidity, so I was just
> wondering if this product isn't considered "necessary" here. The other
> question I had is: Does a nice carpet and a thick pad provide enough
> insulation to keep one's feet from getting cold (our concrete basement
floor
> is quite cold to the touch)?
>
> Thanks for any advice,
> PJ
>
Thanks for all the posts. The one by Nate (in Boulder, near me) made me
realize that all my drywall and baseboard trim is already installed with the
standard gap to the floor. Whatever subfloor product I installed, if I did,
would have to be a certain distance away from the walls to avoid
interference problems. That post also made me wonder how they put tack
strips for the carpet on the concrete floor. I've definitely got some
questions I need to run by a carpet installer.
Thanks for all the input,
PJ
"mttt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "PJ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Thanks for all the posts. The one by Nate (in Boulder, near me) made me
> > realize that all my drywall and baseboard trim is already installed with
> the
>
> But they did float (suspend) the walls, right??? Only the baseboard comes
> close to the slab?
>
>
Yes, these are floating walls. I believe the contractor set the baseboard
trim to be a certain height (3/4" ?) off the floor, but it (and the walls)
are definitely not connected to the floor.
"mttt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "PJ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> >
> > I don't know if this is the right group for this, so maybe someone can
> point
> > me to a better one. We are going to be putting carpet in our basement
> (here
> > in Denver, CO) over a typical concrete floor. We were wanting some
>
> Here, in Denver, also - and finished our basement last year. Basement is
> floating slab of concrete too. We've got a cheap pad over inexpensive
> Berber. It's fine. Much to my surprise as I was expecting it to be
> somewhere between "noticeable" and "uncomfortable." Nope. It's absolutely
> fine - summer and winter.
>
> An R-11 blanket was on the walls already - so I left it there and just
> framed up to it. Also fine. There's a bedroom, a playroom, a craft room, a
> bathroom and a media room down there. Only the media room is chilly - but
> was easily remedied by a $35 Oil Heat heater from Lowes.
>
> The hot water heater and furnace are in a separate room w/ a drain - so
I'm
> not too concerned about a leak.
>
> Discussed this w/ my builder and a subfloor would have increased the cost
> and decreased headroom down there.
>
> Other consideration - radon mitigation system? Regardless of whether you
> believe in the problem or not - it is cheaper to get it installed before
the
> basement is finished. My cost was $750.
>
>
Thanks for the feedback. We're definitely going with a thick pad and a
thick, plush carpet. It's good to know that the extra expense and
installation hassle of a subfloor is likely unnecessary.
I am suspecting that I'm also going to need to augment the heating in the
main basement entertainment room (only one vent from the furnace heats the
room) with some kind of portable heater. Does your oil heater not give off
any harmful gases? I was thinking of going with some little electric unit,
actually.
Thanks,
PJ
All 2000 sq feet of our basement has been done over the last 15 years .
neither of the products you talked about existed then. So we created our
own.
First cover all the interior concrete with a waterproofing product - do
it well - ensure that any current cracks and holes are filled. Use an
epoxy product - it will reduce the amount of chiseling you have to do.
For this to work long term you need a dry basement.
1) Paint all the wood with Kilz or a similar product that has a
mildewcide in it. let them dry...paint all the sides. Keep a cup of it
handy when you lay the wood to treat any cut edges.
2) using 1-1/2 inch thick pink or blue builders board and 2x4's -
alternate so that you have a 2x4 laid flat against the wall then another
at 2 feet on center and 4 feet on center - cut the builded board to fit
in between. Do the whole floor this way. Do not worry about anchoring
the material to the floor or the walls - gravity does a pretty good job,
Go ahead and use the scrap pieces to fill in in the middle.
3) again paint the daylights out of the plywood or OSB and cover the
2x4's with the plywood - using galvenized or stainless screws to anchor
the plywood to the 2x4's - ensure that you countersink the screws at
least 1/8 of an inch.
4) Call the carpet guys.
I promise a warm and comfortable room (we have 2 kids bedrooms, and our
family room in the basement here in Michigan - the floor is as warm
downstairs as up.
WARNING - if you do not get the basement dry and the wood covered you
will end up ripping it all out.
We run a dehumidifier hard prior to laying the floor to get most of the
moisture out of the air and off the concrete.
Doug
In article <[email protected]>,
"PJ" <[email protected]> wrote:
> I don't know if this is the right group for this, so maybe someone can point
> me to a better one. We are going to be putting carpet in our basement (here
> in Denver, CO) over a typical concrete floor. We were wanting some
> insulation between the concrete and the carpet and had heard of some
> basement subfloor products. The two I've found so far are...
>
> Delta-FL: http://www.deltams.com/deltafl/index.html
> Dri-Core: http://www.dricore.com/
>
> Neither of those companies has a distributor near us in Colorado, so that
> made me wonder. Do people only put these products down if there is a
> basement water leak concern, and not for insulation like what we had in
> mind? Obviously in Colorado there's not much humidity, so I was just
> wondering if this product isn't considered "necessary" here. The other
> question I had is: Does a nice carpet and a thick pad provide enough
> insulation to keep one's feet from getting cold (our concrete basement floor
> is quite cold to the touch)?
>
> Thanks for any advice,
> PJ
The Dri-Core stuff looks real similar to some panels I've seen at Home
Depot.If you don't have one nearby, you can 'make' the same thing by laying
down a section of foundation wall 'bubble wrap' as I can it , then sheets of
OSB.You could put a layer of say 1" waterproof insulation(extruded
polystyrene) between the 'bubble wrap' and the OSB.
Any decent yard will have both of these items.
hope this helps
Jay
"PJ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> I don't know if this is the right group for this, so maybe someone can
point
> me to a better one. We are going to be putting carpet in our basement
(here
> in Denver, CO) over a typical concrete floor. We were wanting some
Here, in Denver, also - and finished our basement last year. Basement is
floating slab of concrete too. We've got a cheap pad over inexpensive
Berber. It's fine. Much to my surprise as I was expecting it to be
somewhere between "noticeable" and "uncomfortable." Nope. It's absolutely
fine - summer and winter.
An R-11 blanket was on the walls already - so I left it there and just
framed up to it. Also fine. There's a bedroom, a playroom, a craft room, a
bathroom and a media room down there. Only the media room is chilly - but
was easily remedied by a $35 Oil Heat heater from Lowes.
The hot water heater and furnace are in a separate room w/ a drain - so I'm
not too concerned about a leak.
Discussed this w/ my builder and a subfloor would have increased the cost
and decreased headroom down there.
Other consideration - radon mitigation system? Regardless of whether you
believe in the problem or not - it is cheaper to get it installed before the
basement is finished. My cost was $750.
"PJ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I am suspecting that I'm also going to need to augment the heating in the
> main basement entertainment room (only one vent from the furnace heats the
> room) with some kind of portable heater. Does your oil heater not give
off
> any harmful gases? I was thinking of going with some little electric
unit,
> actually.
The "Oil" unit I mentioned is Electric - but rather than hot coils and a
fan - it heats up a radiator filled with oil. Looks like a little
old-fashioned radiator. But will consume up to 1500 watts of current. Gives
a much nicer, radiant warmth. My media room is about 15x15 and one of these
$35 jobbies can heat it up to the mid 90's if set on high.
Basements don't take much - I leave it on, set to "low" and it's mid 70's in
there.
Picked this one because it (supposedly) is about as child-safe as you can
make a radiant heater.
I've got vents in all of the rooms, but my contractor [ picked
"parsimoniously" :) ] had to really boggle up some duct work to get it into
some rooms. There's just not enough oomph in the furnance and too much
restriction in the flow to heat up the room.
I am going to be installing the Dri-Core product in the next few weeks in my
basement (750 sq. ft.). I live in Ottawa, Canada and the Home Depot does
carry the product. It is a little pricey at $7(CDN) per 2'by2' panel. I
researched other subfloor options but the main reason I chose this system
was height. I am 6'3" and this floor is only 3/4" which is great with HVAC
trunks and I-beams hanging under an 8 foot ceiling. The panels look easy to
install, waterproof (including wood treatment), allow any water leakage to
travel to lowest point and provide an air gap between floor and
carpet/laminate. One of the 3 rooms is a home theatre room and will have
kids laying on the floor so I wanted something warm. If your concrete is
young do not paint, it will take a few years for it to breath.
Mike H.
"PJ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I don't know if this is the right group for this, so maybe someone can
point
> me to a better one. We are going to be putting carpet in our basement
(here
> in Denver, CO) over a typical concrete floor. We were wanting some
> insulation between the concrete and the carpet and had heard of some
> basement subfloor products. The two I've found so far are...
>
> Delta-FL: http://www.deltams.com/deltafl/index.html
> Dri-Core: http://www.dricore.com/
>
> Neither of those companies has a distributor near us in Colorado, so that
> made me wonder. Do people only put these products down if there is a
> basement water leak concern, and not for insulation like what we had in
> mind? Obviously in Colorado there's not much humidity, so I was just
> wondering if this product isn't considered "necessary" here. The other
> question I had is: Does a nice carpet and a thick pad provide enough
> insulation to keep one's feet from getting cold (our concrete basement
floor
> is quite cold to the touch)?
>
> Thanks for any advice,
> PJ
>
>