Bedroom flooring options?

[Beaver]

I'm renovating my basement and building a big master bedroom with French doors onto the backyard patio/garden. The floor is 50 year old concrete. I'm wondering what flooring options I have.
Tile
slate
some kinda vinyl? There must be something decent.
Carpet (probably not)
Laminate
Real wood? I like the idea but it's probably not so good on concrete, no way to nail it down unless I build a sub floor.

Can I stain 50 yo concrete?
Pour a heated slab and stain that? Maybe cut and grout it to look like tile?

Any great ideas?

[Cruiser]

Can't you lay cork tiles on a slab? I've never installed cork in my own home but I've always admired it in other people's.

[iceman]

Cork is nice. Tile is cold. You can definitely put wood over concrete but I'd go with an engineered wood product. I'm sure there's good stuff available near you but we just used a ton of this product in ¾" over concrete, it's killer: http://www.vermontplankflooring.com/engineered.html

With engineered wood the main variables are the species used in the base and wear layers, the thickness and number of plys (more is better) and the thickness of the wear layer. Also the glues used and what off-gassing there might be.

[::: :::]

Even tho it's old and you haven't said anything about dampness, assume it's not perfectly dry. Engineered products are going to be better than conventional (cork or wood). Use a vapor barrier underneath to mitigate some of the inherent dampness of being near the earth. Probably can't go wrong with stained concrete or tile. You could do a heated slab, but you will lose ceiling height to do it (assuming you're not demo'ing the slab)

[old goat]

I'd go with engineered wood floating floor. (Actually, I did). You'll probably have to level the floor (for solid wood, tile, or stone as well. ) Vinyl for a master bedroom--nah. Don't rule out a nice Berber carpet.
Before deciding on material figure out just how level the slab is and how hard it's going to be to level it. That may influence your choice.

[SB]

Butake ruined my carpet.

[huckbucket]

My bro swears by these things as a subfloor. Keeps the cold off your toes (although this is western NY)

http://tinyurl.com/gumslom

[schuss]

Since it opens onto the garden - definitely engineered wood.
Carpet is going to get super dirty, laminate is meh (but good if you're cheap), tile is cold.

[riser4]

Butake ruined my carpet.

You need an easy to hose off surface for that.

[Conundrum]

My folks got tile that looks like wood in their basement. Sounded weird but looks cool now that I've seen it in person.

[Pegleg]

I did floating engineered wood (laminate) over a slab in my living room, came out awesome. Can't tell that it's not real hardwood unless you look very closely. The only glitch is one small spot where it feels a little hollow/springy under the wood - this is because the slab wasn't totally flat and the floor is a little bit higher over the low spot. Not a big deal, I stopped noticing it after the first day, but something to be aware of if your slab isn't totally even.

There was one hardwood place in town that told me I could glue down hardwood on the slab with no problems, which seemed wrong to me. A few months later, I read in the paper that after some major rainstorms here, they had to rip up all the hardwood flooring in their showroom because it all warped and cracked. Glad I didn't listen to them.

[fatnslow]

You always need to level low spots if you don't want that hollow sound with engine needed flooring. Cork is a great bedroom surface. If you want to disassemble the living room floor and level the base it's not that difficult.

[mcski]

My folks got tile that looks like wood in their basement. Sounded weird but looks cool now that I've seen it in person.

Our coffee shop has it and I thought it was real wood at first. Looks great. Not that pricey either.

[Buster Highmen]

I'd go with some electric black jello.

[Beaver]

I've only owned the house for a few months but I've never seen any dampness. It's in the north okanagan kinda on the edge of a desert, pretty dry area. I can't see any sign of past dampness. I like cork, I'll have to look into that. No idea how flat the floor is, I'll find out after I rip out walls, carpet & linolium.

[old goat]

I've only owned the house for a few months but I've never seen any dampness. It's in the north okanagan kinda on the edge of a desert, pretty dry area. I can't see any sign of past dampness. I like cork, I'll have to look into that. No idea how flat the floor is, I'll find out after I rip out walls, carpet & linolium.

you still need a vapor barrier (note "vapor" which means you can't necessarily see it. Those dri core panels sound like an excellent idea. Since there are joints I'd probably use some poly under it--cheap insurance. But that's an amateur opinion. FWIW I have an engineered floor on a slab in Truckee. Vapor barrier, underlayment, and the floor is not cold on bare feet in the winter.

[Huck_Schmuck]

Vinyl plank is the tits. We had it installed in our house in October. Looks amazing, 100% waterproof, easy to work with.

[assman]

you can get the floor tested for dampness. Call a floor guy and ask them. I had it done in a loft I was having renovated. The building was 100 years old yet it still registered more dampness than would be ideal for hardwood.

[RootSkier]

Even tho it's old and you haven't said anything about dampness, assume it's not perfectly dry. Engineered products are going to be better than conventional (cork or wood). Use a vapor barrier underneath to mitigate some of the inherent dampness of being near the earth. Probably can't go wrong with stained concrete or tile. You could do a heated slab, but you will lose ceiling height to do it (assuming you're not demo'ing the slab)

Yeah, engineered flooring with particle board in the middle is better than cork for damp.

[::: :::]

I think you'll find that floating floor style cork floors (i.e. engineered) are recommended below grade & typically with a vapor barrier

[brice618]

I've seen a few pretty good looking wood look ceramic tiles (fooled me for a bit, anyways). They're cold, but most people are walking on a bath mat in their bathroom anyways.

Fuck vinyl plank.

Definitely get moisture figured out for your slab and whatever floor you choose don't exceed the recommended moisture values without some kind of serious thought about how to get it mitigated. Basically, hire a contractor who knows the pitfalls of moisture related problems.

This is a good basic article on such issues:
http://www.hardwoodfloorsmag.com/ins...customers.html

[fatnslow]

OP: Do you currently have the doors that open outside ? Make sure you don't have ANY water that gets in there or ANY flooring you lay will have issues even with vapor barrier/subfloor/padding for engineered products. Will you be doing the work or hiring a flooring contractor ? Budget ? Value of your home ? I believe in not over doing/under doing in relation the the value of a home. If you have a wife and she starts with, " my friend told me......" Just walk out of the room.

[RootSkier]

you can get the floor tested for dampness. Call a floor guy and ask them. I had it done in a loft I was having renovated. The building was 100 years old yet it still registered more dampness than would be ideal for hardwood.

Poor man's way to test for dampness is to tape all four edges of a square of clear plastic down. If you ever see condensation under there, you know you have an issue to address before choosing/installing flooring.

acinpdx: Sorry, I was holding a puking kid and misread your post.

[::: :::]

no worries, puking kids have a way of distracting

[digitaldeath]

Linoleum u shitbird