Post-basement flood. More flooring questions!?

Question

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080614025906AAhRsZR

I haven't been able to do much about the floor yet. I pulled the tiles out of the first room, but that seems to be counter-productive, so I think it'll stay this way. The utility room was basically untouched (because of the drain) and so the original linoleum can stay without problems. two other rooms are covered in carpet glue (which is evil to get off. Evil.)

I want to know what to do now. DIY Doc mentioned installing concrete backer board. I'm game. But how do I do it? Everything I've been able to find tells me to nail or s***w it down after putting it into the mortar. How do I do this over cement?

Also, once I have everything nice and smooth, what should I put down? Ceramic tiles? Laminate? (Please, please don't suggest carpet or vinyl.) I want something I can conceivably do myself. Thanks to a local source, I can get quality ceramic tiles and laminate cheaply.

What do I do?

Help me please please please?

Answer 1

depending on how much glue is there laminate may be your best option

the pros about laminate :

easy to install for novices

cost efficient

low maintenance

underlayment helps with slightly irregular surfaces

but use transition pieces when the room changes it will be alot easier for you

hope this is informative

also was wondering the type of glue and what was glued down pictures would help

Answer 2

If you are laying the tile in the basement over concrete floor, why would you install backer board? You can just lay the tile over the concrete. If you have an uneven floor, use a leveling compound to prepare the surface.

If you are looking to install something in the area and you believe it to be flood prone, then tile is probably your best option. You could also leave the bare concrete (assumiing you can clean it up good enough) and maybe get a big throw rug. That way, when there is a possibility of flooding, you can take the rug up and carry it out of danger.

Answer 3

Cheezy offers the method and hardware. The rationale certainly is to add to, or strictly cause that substrate to be as stable as possible. I use TAP CONS for concrete or block installations, and in your case they are sold with a flat, tapered head, similar to a drywall s***w, and in various lengths. Certainly you can apply mastic as well.

   The concrete board is a standard for ceramic tile installations. The issue might still be the possibility of flooding again, in which case no matter what you do, you could have problems in the future. Personally, I'd go with tile in a basement anyway, but that's just my opinion.

Steven Wolf

Just my two "sense"

  Obviously the job will be more tedious, and labor intensive than just walking in and dropping flooring over what exists now, but you've already experienced labor that hasn't been very satisfying.

Answer 4

You might try to s***w just the edges of the cement board down.  You can use a hammer drill and cement screws.  It will be a lot of work, but I wouldn't put a lot of faith in the cement adhearing to the old vinyl tiles.  

If your floor is relativly smooth I would try to take the tile and old carpet glue up it is labor intensive but no more so that laying down cement board and ceramic tile.

I have had to do this for customers before.  I have tried many different products and the one that I have found that actualy works is found at Ace hardware.  Ace hardware brand "Remover Adheasive" is what it is called.  Use in a WELL VENTALATED area and a good floor scraper (a sharp barn scraper works well).