Warm Flooring Over Concrete

Cork is easy on the feet which makes it ideal for kitchen areas.

Warm flooring over concrete.

It radiates heat through the underlayment up to the top flooring layer and through the rest of the room helping your favorite spaces feel toasty even during cold. So deborah what kind of flooring would you use over concrete to begin with. Consider adding a rug to your ceramic tile basement floor to help warm up the floor. Radiant below surface heating is the most expensive option but also the most effective.

Floors of ceramic stone or concrete are the worst culprits with hardwood a runner up. What are the best basement flooring options over concrete. Cork has been used as flooring for centuries and was popularized by the architect frank lloyd wright in his pennsylvania homes. Insulating the floors rim joists and headers can be an effective way to warm these floors.

The best and easiest way to do this is to install a radiant floor warming mat under whatever new floor you want to have installed. This system provides a guaranteed warm floor regardless of what subfloor wood or concrete slab or floor you have being installed over it. Well you can use almost anything. These panels are only about 1 2 inch thick and are small enough 4 feet square to handle rather easily.

Again it probably would depend on your lifestyle and what you plan to do in that basement. One is to lay comfort base panels made by homasote corp over the surface of the floor. Start with the simplest solution which will help provide a comfortable temperature for the whole house not just the floor. Cover the sleepers with 6 millimeter plastic and then lay down 5 8 inch plywood.

Of course vinyl placed on concrete won t be as warm as it would be over a wood subfloor but its complete water resistance outweighs this negative. Install cork flooring over concrete as long as the floor is level and clean. Keep cold air out warm air in. You can step onto a warm and inviting floor even one built on a concrete slab by adding in floor heating.

How to add floor heating over existing concrete. Plus it s still warmer than ceramic tiles and especially bare cement. Luckily there are ways to combat this chilly predicament. The ideal way to put down a wood floor over concrete that is subject to dampness is to first put down pressure 2 by 4 inch sleepers or lengths of wood on the floor that are spaced 16 inches apart on center.

Vinyl feels warm underfoot and it cushions the bottoms of your feet better than ceramic tile too. If your floor is flat stable and free of large cracks you can lay ceramic tile directly over your concrete. If your concrete is uneven vinyl tile is a good option.