Fix it Fast: The Early Years 2008-2020

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Briantist: Dec 5, 2003; The Professor does not approve of your post.; Lipstick Apathy

I have some flooring questions. My girlfriend and I are replacing the flooring in a basement. There is carpet down there right now, and under the carpet is padding and tackboard around the edges, and under that is concrete. We just noticed as we were painting that in one corner of the room the carpet is wet. We just had a really heavy rain. I don't think it leaks normally.

At the moment, we're not sure exactly where the water is coming in; we'll have to lift up the carpet and padding and check it out. I've seen multiple people mention in this thread that concrete seeps moisture; is this something that could be caused by this property of concrete, or is it definitely a leak of some kind? It wasn't just a small spot; it covered a couple of square feet, but there wasn't standing water anywhere so it wasn't a total flood.

In addition, we're looking to replace the carpet and we're thinking of going with laminate floors instead of new carpet, since we found decent laminate floors at the same price/cheaper than decent carpet. What kind of preparations do we have to take in installing this over concrete? Should we put something else down first? One of the laminate floors we looked at had a rubber backing to it. Would the procedure change for that type of flooring? How difficult is it to put this stuff in? It just snaps together; it looks really easy but we've never done it.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

# ¿ Feb 17, 2008 07:16

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# ¿ May 7, 2024 00:13

Briantist: Dec 5, 2003; The Professor does not approve of your post.; Lipstick Apathy

Janelle posted:

Briantist- there is a flooring thread here, but you will need to put a plastic barrier under the laminate if you aren't going to use laminate that already has it on there. The plastic comes in rolls and you just cut it to fit.

Thanks. I saw a hardwood floor thread, but I didn't think the laminate would apply since it's not strictly hardwood. I did find out from Lowes and Home Depot that I would need the moisture barrier plastic, even if the laminate flooring has padding because the padding isn't for moisture.

I had another minor question; electrical this time. I wanted to keep the cable modem/router/small switch up in the drop ceiling so that they're out of the way, and to make routing network cable behind the walls easier. The only problem is that I have no where to plug them in. Is it a terrible idea to put an outlet up inside the drop ceiling?

# ¿ Feb 18, 2008 02:43

Briantist: Dec 5, 2003; The Professor does not approve of your post.; Lipstick Apathy

We just put up some new drywall in a basement and I put the first coat of primer on tonight. It's Killz 2 (the latex one). I'm just wondering whether or not I should put on a second coat of primer.

The drywall is the fancy moisture/mold resistant kind, but I'm not sure if that makes any difference either way. The walls will be painted a light color if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

# ¿ Jun 15, 2008 08:17

Briantist: Dec 5, 2003; The Professor does not approve of your post.; Lipstick Apathy

Cakefool posted:

Paint a test patch and see what you think. It's almost always cheaper to put 2 coats of primer down than topcoat.

Based on previous painting with this color, I figured we'd have to do two coats anyway (maybe we're crappy painters?). Is the second coat what you're referring to as a top coat? How often is a second coat of primer needed? Is that SOP for new walls?

# ¿ Jun 15, 2008 09:17

Briantist: Dec 5, 2003; The Professor does not approve of your post.; Lipstick Apathy

Haikeeba! posted:

Topcoat in this case is simply the name for the "proper" paint - that is, the paint that isn't sealer, primer or undercoat.

For new gyprock or plaster walls the SOP is one coat of a sealer/primer, and then your colour. If you were using a deep colour, particularly a red one, I would say prime it, then give it a grey undercoat before the topcoat, but for a light colour you should be able to paint it straight on. I would give it two coats of topcoat, it will give you a more even colour. Doing an additional coat of sealer/primer would really only be necessary if the first coat was patchy.

Okay great; thanks for the explanation! I see what he meant now about the topcoat.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2008 18:06

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