Right kind of carpet in the basement?

[Christian Ek]

We live in a brick villa from 1963 with a basement. A year ago, we drained around the house and installed isodrän.

When we moved in, there was a carpet directly on the concrete in one of the rooms in the basement. The inspector said it wasn't a problem and we haven't noticed any bad odor or anything like that.

But now I'm wondering if this is the right type of carpet to have in a basement? I turned over a piece of it and thought it looked a bit unclean underneath. Is that white efflorescence?

 

[Lenza]

You can tell if it's the right kind of carpet. It should have felt on the bottom, so-called needle felt, not a rubber-like underside. It should be enough to take out the carpet, clean it, and put it back if the underside is made of felt.

 

[Christian Ek]

In the last image, you can see what it looks like underneath, feels like soft cotton.

 

[Lenza]

It sounds like a good sign. I thought I caught a glimpse of it in the last picture but didn't want to take a chance. It would have looked significantly worse if the carpet had been dense underneath.