New house, basement partitions, the question is – How to “warm up” the floor? – (I’m for ceramic tile durability in the basement – not into the “warm thing” there).
But, anyway, what would be the best way to do this – screw down plywood over rboard? Would this be a disaster waiting to happen?
There is a sump with a little water flowing. Owner talks about a battery back up sump.
Need some counsel here –
p.s. We are also thinking of using a strip of cement board taped in at the bottom of walls just in case…
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What do you mean by "sump with a little water flowing" and "warm up"? If you mean flowing into the crock all the time and never any overflow, it sounds like the drainage issues need to be addressed first. If it's only during the heaviest rains and it does overflow, it definitely needs fixing. And by "warming up", do you mean just the look of the basement or the floor's temperature? There are underlays that have drainage underneath but over time, I think there would be mold/concrete spalling issues if water gets under without drying completely. If the mortar bonds well with the floor, tile would be a good covering as long as the water can't get under it.
All appreciated, thanks. I am sketchy because I haven't seen the job until this week. Don't know if the water runs all the time - I would think not. The family has not yet taken posession of the house, so I think their report is also sketchy. Again, it's a new house. What he meant by "warm up" I think was make it more pleasant down there for his family, which is downsizing into this smaller house. We will get more into the reality of all this next week. I didn't like the idea he was coming up with (rboard and sleepers) and wanted to see if I was missing something here.My son in law (Madison Wisconsin area) said they trimmed a house recently that the guy was going to glue down rboard on the basement floor and glue carpet directly to that??? What would happen to a chair leg? I'm for ceramic and socks.
I'm in Milwaukee, so the climate is basically the same. Like I said, I insulated the long wall in half of my basement and it's a lot more comfortable in summer, although it's not quite as cool as it was. The long wall in the other half had been insulated previously and it's definitely better in winter, too. Winter is the main reason I did it but dry in summer is good, too. We insulated the rec room at my folk's house in the middle '70s with 2" white styro and then panelled over that. Also made a big difference in winter but for summer, there was a dehumidifier down there as long as I can remember and I just tossed it last year, even though it was probably 45 years old. Still worked until the year before. Since cold air falls, the floor ends up being colder than it should and if the walls are insulated better, it won't be as bad. Keeping the air moving in winter will help, too. Heat finds cold and if warm, dry air passes over the floor, it'll warm up. Otherwise, if they can afford it and there won't be any impact on the floor, radiant heating is really nice.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
If heating the floor was considered an option what is the way to go on that? You still would have several choices of products, right? This is one thing I have seen (in concrete floors) but never had experience with.I better get out the FHB and look at those ads closer.
I haven't installed flooring but some of the houses I have worked on (I do low voltage electronics) had it and it was really nice walking on a heated floor in a basement.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
"We will get more into the reality of all this next week. I didn't like the idea he was coming up with (rboard and sleepers) and wanted to see if I was missing something here.My son in law (Madison Wisconsin area) said they trimmed a house recently that the guy was going to glue down rboard on the basement floor and glue carpet directly to that??? What would happen to a chair leg? "You are right you need something to distribute the load on the foam.One system is to laydown foam and the put plywood over it and screw down through the foam.FWW had an article on just that on build a shop about 1-2 years ago.I did that about 15 years ago. At the time I did know what I was doing and used two layers of 3 ply 3/8" crap that was a reject from a pretzel factory. And IIRC I only tried to screw the two layers to each other and there was not enough meat to hold so theere are a couple of bumps in the floor.
Socks.......
makes the floor feel warmer, and sops up any water puddles.
Practical and long lasting too - ceramic - just look at PompeiPlus, those pest guys have told me how bugs like that foamboard. You couldn't get 'em out.