I am disabled, and we just bought a house and property in Missouri. I am trying with the help of my son and father-in-law to finish the basement. Is it practical to cover the existing floor tiles on the basement floor, rather than try and remove them? I took other tiles and cut them to size and glued them in. I was thinking of painting them. What do you think?
Our Answer
Congratulations on the new home! Now lets talk basement flooring. We're not sure why you want to paint the tile. Don't like the color? Is the tile in bad shape? Laminate flooring for your basement could be the perfect solution
If it is that you don't like the color of the tile, you can paint ceramic tile, but I would not recommend it for such a large and heavily used surface like the floor. For a backsplash it is okay to paint the surface, because you are not walking on it and moving furniture and toys all across the surface.
You can install laminate flooring right over the tile. If the tile is not cracked too badly and has an even surface you can use a foam underlayment and then install a floating laminate floor over the tile. Laminate flooring has a very durable surface and is easy to install; most just snap right together, no glue necessary. The laminate can look like anything from tile to wood so you have a lot of choices for laminate flooring for your basement.
The laminate flooring in your basement will not only look great and be an excellent addition to your home, it will also help when it comes time to sell. A painted ceramic tile floor will not help to attract a buyer since it would most likely need replacing at that point.
If you install laminate flooring over tile in a basement, do you need a moisture barrier? If so, what do you recommend? We have a large basement area that is partially tiled and partially carpeted. We want to install laminate in both areas. Any ideas on how to level up the floor where the bare concrete floor (where carpet & pad are removed) and the tile meet?