Hi Rob,
Could you please go into more detail on this:

"The drain guy that did mine told me to also
install a valve in the floor drain to prevent the sewer from backing up
into your basement. Cheaper than insurance."

What type of valve?

thanks
Steve



"Rob Mitchell" wrote in message
...
dude wrote:
Hello,
The floor is uneven and slopes toward a drain that i have my wash basin
attached to. I definitely have to get the floor even. My problem is the
basement is half finished by the previous owner and
i've been fixing up their screw-ups. It looks like the floor that they
have
has tar paper (yes tar paper) under neath it. Therefore
Iassume I need a type of vapour barrier. On top of the wood floor
they've
laid 3 different carpets. I just want to redo it all with laminate floor
or
maybe carpet. I plan on fastening them with concrete screws and then
screwing the plywood into the straps.
thanks

"dude" wrote in message
sgroups.com...

Hello all, I am re-doing myu basement and am going to be putting down a

wood

floor and laminate flooring on top of it. I was going to strap the

concrete

floor with 2x1's and then 1/2 inch plywood on top. Should I put anything

on

the floor like a vapour barrier? How far should I space my 2x1's from
each
other? I was going to run them parralel to,one another about 12" apart..
Any help appreciated
Kudos
Steve

--






Dear 'Dude'

I have a similar uneven concrete floor, with far more grade in places
than necessary which makes my table saw and and other machines slant.
The basement is about 1500sqft. So far the cheapest and best solution
will be to hire someone to pour new concrete (through a small window
with road access thankfully) and reset the grade. Then part of the
floor (my shop, furnace, drain, storage) can stay concrete, and the
other section I will probably put 2x2' chipboard 'tiles' with a plastic
dimpled backing. They snap together, give you an air space, vapour
barrier and a way for water to run down the original concrete to the
drain (a requirement as others have pointed out.) You can easily put
additional drain openings in a couple of places to allow any water to
get down to the slab (and to the drain)

Also, before doing this, make sure your drain line is in good shape all
the way to the street. You wouldn't want to have to rip it all up if
your drain backs up. The drain guy that did mine told me to also
install a valve in the floor drain to prevent the sewer from backing up
into your basement. Cheaper than insurance.

I haven't done any laminate, but I've done 3000sqft of hardwood
upstairs. I wouldn't put a solid floor on a concrete slab unless the
slab was FLAT. Shimming your 2x1 grid may be alot of work (and I'd put
down 3/4" ply). I may just put a coat of poly on the chipboard tiles
and put down area rugs. I think it will look fine for a basement, and
it will be warmer and more pleasant to be down there.

Rob