laminate on basement floor.

[L-E oved]

Hi out there, my son is planning to lay laminate on the basement floor. What underlayment should he use? It's a concrete floor, platon, foam, laminate in that order? Is there foam that also makes it warmer to walk on? It is, after all, in the basement. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Åsa Lund]

Laminate is colder to walk on than parquet.

 

[mojjen]

If it is an old uninsulated slab, platon or similar, with ventilation, preferably mechanical... (I used blackline from dörken. Cheaper than platon. Sold at hornbasch

 

[L-E oved]

Unfortunately, I don't know when the house was built, I would guess around the 70s. So what kind of concrete slab it is, I don't know.

 

[L-E oved]

Laminate is colder than parquet to walk on

the question I asked was what underlayment to use when laying laminate to maybe make it a bit warmer.

 

[AndersS]

House from the 60s without moisture in the floor.
Have similar floors both laminate and veneer in the basement.
Lies on plastic with foam on top in some parts and also with underlay foam with integrated plastic layer underneath, see link.
https://www.k-rauta.se/produkt/unde...lex-3mm-11x30m-33m-med-angsparr/6418741340028

 

[mojjen]

However, you can assume that it is likely an uninsulated floor. In that case, you should build with mechanical ventilation. Passive ventilation, i.e., just laying out a Platon mat or equivalent, placing flooring on top, and using ventilated skirting boards, is not recommended for older houses. It should mainly be used for newly built ones.

However, it is likely much better than laying the floor directly on the concrete. You should not do this under any circumstances. Building mechanically is much more time and cost-consuming than passively, so I suspect most people take this middle road anyway...

Read up a bit on these sites. I chose the system from Fuktspärrteknik, but there is no real difference in practice:
Platon Gulv » Isola AB
Ventilerade golv mot mögel och radon - Fuktspärr golv - Fuktspärrteknik (fuktsparrteknik.se)

 

[AndersS]

You can then assume that it is likely an uninsulated floor. You should build with mechanical ventilation. Passive ventilation, i.e., just laying a Platon mat or equivalent, placing the floor on top, and using ventilated skirting, is not recommended for older houses. It should primarily be used in newly built ones.

However, it would be much better than laying the floor directly on the concrete. You should not do that under any circumstances. Building mechanically is much more time-consuming and expensive than passively, so I suspect that most take this middle road anyway...

Well, if you're going to lay Platon, it should be ventilated. Without ventilation, you might as well use the foam I linked to. And if the floor is cleaned before laying and there are no organic materials, nothing can happen if it gets airtight.

 

[mojjen]

Well, if you're going to lay Platon, it should be ventilated.
Without ventilation, you might as well use the foam I linked to.
And ensure the floor is cleaned before laying, if there are no organic materials, nothing can happen if it's sealed.

Of course ventilated with Platon. I was writing about the choice between passive and active ventilation, i.e., with a mechanical fan.
I am really skeptical about laying a sealed foam on an uninsulated basement floor. Everything I've found indicates that this type of floor should have an air gap. However, I'm not a builder, most of my information came from my own deep dive. So there are probably others who can answer better if it's okay to lay the foam directly on concrete. My advice is no...

 

[AndersS]

Of course ventilated at Platon. I wrote about the choice between passive ventilation and active, i.e., with a mechanical fan. I am really skeptical about laying a tight foam on an uninsulated basement floor. Everything I've found out is that this type of floor should have an air gap. However, I'm not a builder, but most of the info I found during my own deep dive. So there are probably others who can better answer whether it's okay to lay the foam directly against concrete. My advice, however, is no...

I have experience as I replaced one of the floors after we redid the drainage and replaced part of the stack in the hallway in the basement. The floor there was plastic that sealed, foam, and then veneer flooring (not sandable) which was taken up after about 15 years. There was no difference under the floor from when I laid the floor. The new one became laminate with the linked underlay. The underlay under the floor must be tight, which is important, and no moisture, but you check by taping plastic over an area and let it sit for a while. There are many different theories and many writings based on covering all conceivable conditions. So one must make their own assessment of what applies to their house.

 

[L-E oved]

Hello everyone! To those who have responded to my question about laminate, a big thank you to all. I just got a response from my son that there are tiles on the basement floor, so he was thinking of laying laminate on top of it to make it a bit warmer. Is it a good idea to do that?

 

[Kurtivan]

Hello everyone! Who has answered my question about laminate, and a big thank you to all. I got an answer from my son that there are tiles on the basement floor, so he was thinking of laying laminate on top of it to make it a bit warmer. Is it good to do so?

I don't think so. The easiest solution is to lay a patio carpet, after placing one directly on our concrete basement floor, it doesn't cool even if you walk barefoot.

 

[Bonzo2000]

I don't think so. The simplest solution is to lay a patio mat; after placing one directly on our concrete basement floor, it doesn't cool even if you walk barefoot.

There are also carpets designed to be placed on basement floors, so that might be an alternative. I think laminate is partly too dense to be laid directly on tiles* and I also don't think it would provide much warmth.


*I interpret this as the floor not being insulated and heated.

 

[salkin85]

Lay a Platonmat, cellplast, and then laminate. The floor will not be warm, but a little warmer than the tile floor.

If you want warm floors, wall-to-wall carpeting is the way to go.

 

[AndersS]

Hello everyone! Who have answered my question about laminate, and a big thank you to all. I now got a response from my son that there are tiles on the basement floor, so he thought about laying laminate on top of that to make it a bit warmer. Is it okay to do so?

Yes, it works and see my previous post regarding foam.