On Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:58:37 -0700, John wrote:
We're looking to finish our basement floor so the kids can have a
playroom. Right now it's just plain concrete. We were told by one
person to just put indoor/outdoor carpetting down, and glue it. Another
person suggested using DirCore tiles and carpeting on top of that.

I keep thinking about doing ours - one of those projects that keeps
getting pushed back by other things. I can never decide whether to
insulate first or not.

As someone else, test first with a bit of plastic sheet. Ours is pretty
good - but there's one spot where too separate slab sections meet that
were dry in previous years and have now started showing moisture (it's
been wetter this year than past years).

I think I'll essentially "tank" the rooms down there with a vapour
barrier and then studwork/insulation over the top, and add a few
ventilation spots on the external walls.

As far as the room goes, we currently have a crack in the wall, but we
only get moisture in really heavy rains (once every couple of years). We
were planning on sealing the crack regardless.

Our north wall is like that - it's on the high side of a natural slope,
so moisture in the ground tends to collect outside against that wall. My
plan is to put an internal air gap and moisture barrier on the inside of
that wall, and a drainage channel along the floor internally, leading to
the sump pump (needed in order to put the washer down there anyway). It's
overkill really, but I'd rather do it for peace of mind; I'd rather that
than have to later dig through the internal wall that I plan to put up,
just to add more sealing to the concrete wall beyond.

cheers

Jules