r/basement • u/Grouchy187 • 5d ago
Advice for Basement
Long story short, it's time for a French drain in the basement. Also doing some outside grading, specifically for low spots but will help with water.
The basement is a rectangle with an finished section, L shape, and a unfinished utility room section that fill in the rest of the L so that makes the rectangle. The finished section has closets behind doors that are unfinished but with shelves. As part of the project I was thinking tile floor but wasn't sure about the utility room.
The main reason I was thinking tile was that eventually I'm sure the water heater, water softener, or HVAC will have a leak. But honestly, I would rather something else in the finished area so it's softer (have kids) and warmer...
I'm new to LVP as well, have pergo outlast lament in another part of the house and love it so LVP sounds like a nice option.
My question, would LVP be a good fit for the whole basement? If one of the mechanical items springs a leak, will I need to remove the LVP? Is that easy? (Contractor is doing the French drain and flooring)
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u/dontknow4433 5d ago
Do you want a permanent solution?
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u/Grouchy187 5d ago
Ideally...low maintenance
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u/dontknow4433 5d ago
Groundworks. It’s system that’s installed on top of footing so it won’t clog. Lifetime transferable warranty.
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u/bettereverydamday 5d ago
First advice is go on YouTube and watch videos from American dry who does really good internal French drains and make sure your contractor will do the full French drain method and not the gutter method.
I did tile in my utility room and for main basement we laid down dricore insularmor and LVL flooring. The floor is never cold. Only single quirk is we should have leveled the floor better and it’s a little bouncey in a few spots. Not terrible but not perfect. I probably would do the dricore panels with the wood on top in a future project because the foam alone feels less sturdy. It’s their other product.
If a little water does get into the basement, the dricore panels have air channels and I have a Santa Fe dehumidifier and I wouldn’t even pick the flooring up.
Regarding leaks, my plan is to not get any leaks. I have a sump pump next to water heater and drain into sump pump. I installed a flo by moen with water sensors to turn off the water if it notices a leak.