Best new musical flooring for flooded basement

Flo products by Moen can detect and shut off your main water supply, if the source of your water is internal.  If external, at least you can know about it sooner.

@ hilde45

Any engineered floor that uses an mdf or similar core will swell if exposed to standing water.  The product will be destroyed and look terrible especially along the edges.  And even the solid hardwood surface can sustain damage if flooded.  The wood swells, the finish sustains cracks and damage.  If that's enough, on a damp substrate mold sets in.

Premium solid vinyl plank systems look very good, are acoustically dead, and you never will have water damage to this flooring.  

hilde452,489 posts09-20-2021 5:26amInterested in the suggestions here.

QUESTION: If there is concrete beneath the flooring put down (LVF, etc.) will it make a big difference?

@corelli

Use a solid vinyl product as mentioned by builder. It is the only logical choice.

Why is engineered hardwood not an option, in your opinion?

hilde45, the concrete generally isn’t a problem with LVP, it’s solid vinyl, so impervious to moisture, I believe. You do need to have a flat floor, humps, bumps, dips need to be addressed. If not, your finished floor will show those same issues. Engineered hardwood is a great choice (for wood) over concrete, essentially because the laminated core is far less susceptible to movement from moisture issues than solid wood. That being said, we’re only talking about basic moisture content fluctuations in the slab, not water or flooding, which would ruin the floor. Full disclosure, my background is residential building, not flooring. But these are products my subcontractors use and recommend. Hope this helps.

@builder3 Thanks. It does. We got an engineered wood --Bruce Hydropel -- which says it’s waterproof. For whatever it’s worth, we’re in Colorado and never have flooding.

Ours did as well, both sumps went out the same night. What r the odds?

   Had a super expensive mega thick carpet in basement. After the flood, we just put in a thin Berber glued to basement floor.