The Advantages Of Using Carpet Tiles In The Basement

Renovating or finishing a basement to make it usable sounds great. You take an underutilized area in your house, put some money and time into it, and voila — extra living space! You might have reviewed our basement remodeling designs and been inspired to add a family movie room, amazing bar, great guest area, or just a spectacularly spacious place to do laundry. But to get to that point, you'll have to deliberate about how to complete the project in a way that makes sense for your particular circumstance — and part of your decision-making is probably going to include deciding on what to do with the floor. 

Tile? Engineered hardwood? Painted concrete? These are just a few ideas for basement flooring. Still, this area often gets a lot of foot traffic since it's typically subjected to daily wear and tear, which poses other challenges, like tracking dirt and debris into the rest of the house. Once you explore all of your options, you might be surprised to discover that there are a number of advantages to using carpet tiles.

Carpet tiles, which some manufacturers call carpet squares, can make even amateur homeowners look like carpeting wizards. They aren't complicated to install and can be fairly forgiving of uneven floors. Some additional benefits of carpet tiles include their ability to be easily replaced in an area that might get extra dirty, the traction they provide on otherwise slippery floors, and their budget-friendly prices. And that's not all.

Basements are typically colder than the rest of the house, and depending on where you live and what the water table is where your property was built, it also may be somewhat more humid. These conditions can make your flooring choice more difficult. If you're going to be using the space a lot, perhaps as a family recreation area or a playroom for the kids, you'll want to mitigate its chilliness. When House Digest asked flooring expert Bob Hardaway, vice president of carpet at Shaw, to weigh in on the best types for basements, he offered some helpful advice on the advantages of several different options. If you plan to hang out in your basement a lot and want it to be warm on your feet, he suggested carpet tiles, especially if you also prefer a quick installation.

The quick installation isn't the only advantage to using carpet tiles instead of wall-to-wall tiles (or broadloom carpet, as it's often called in the industry). Another big plus, especially if you want to install them yourself, is that they're usually peel and stick. That can make the project less daunting, as can using Smart Squares products. Check out all their items on the home page, but order a sample first. Like many similar carpet tiles, they are 18-inch squares, stain-resistant, able to be installed on most surfaces, and designed for residential use. Best of all, if you do have a problem in one particular area, it's easy to replace the material in that spot (be sure to purchase extras in the amount you think you'll need).

Having an extra space to enjoy in your basement is great, and that's particularly true if you now have warm, affordable, easily-installed carpet squares there to make the area more inviting. But there is one more thing you should think about — the resale value of your house with a carpeted basement. If the only reason you're finishing the basement is to make it more desirable on the market, it might not be quite the bonus you thought it would be.

The answer to whether you should really be finishing the basement before selling your home is more about what you plan to do during the time you'll still be living in the space than what the future homeowners will do with it. If you'll enjoy your finished basement, that's ideal. If potential buyers might someday be swayed enough to make an offer, then it's probably an even bigger benefit. But you shouldn't renovate it with the sole purpose of getting a better market value.

If you're concerned that the carpet squares won't hold up between the installation and when you sell, it's good to know that most quality tiles are made with a denser construction so they're more durable than typical broadloom carpets. So let the kids play on the floor or tell grandma she can stay for a week in the comfortable new private guest room. Installing carpet tiles in your basement adds living space for everyone to enjoy.