What do I do with this carpeted-over, linoleum-tiled floor, post- basement flood?

Question

Here in the lovely Midwest, we recently had a series of crazy rain/thunderstorms. Long story short, our huge basement FULL of stuff got flooded (up through the sump well, but thanks to another drain the water didn't get up too high.)

I've been down in the basement for the past week working on packing and saving stuff to try and get it all out).

For the last two days specifically, I've been cutting and ripping up the carpeting which covered 2/3 of the total area. Underneath, I found a lot of carpet glue and linoleum floor tiles. Apparently, when the owners before us were trying to sell the house, rather than replace the linoleum floor, they patched up missing tiles with something that looks and feels to be plaster and glued the carpeting on top. Oookay. In ripping, some of the tiles ripped up altogether (to reveal concrete).

This fiasco has revealed just how uneven the floor is (there's a dip in the middle of one of the rooms, which remained a puddle until recently.)

Answer 1

dyi doc is right on.you can rent a floor tile remover from a rental store i know home depot has them cost about $35 for 4 hours or $45 for the day.it is electric and works great i had to remove glued down linoleum peeled it up in no time. what i did by hand in 2 hour took 5 minutes with that machine

Answer 2

What you have to be aware of and be careful of is asbestos in those tiles.. Anything pre installed mid 70s may very well contain asbestos.  After 1980 (erring on the safe side) you can rip up and dispose of the vinyl tile and I suggest ceramic  since you  have the time and if you shop around it s not to expensive..  Water won t damage ceramic should it flood again  GL

Answer 3

Get a contractor in there with you.  Although it will probably end up being that you will need to rip everything up, level it out with a thin layer of concrete, and re-tile or re- carpet.  I assume your walls probably received a good deal of damage as well, so the sheet rock may need replacing which will require a bit of contract work anyway.  Hopefully your homeowner's insurance will cover the cost of this work, or most of it.  Best of luck!

Answer 4

I agree with Rob about the safe side @ 1980. Asbestos was pretty much outlawed by 1975, but I suppose it may still have been stored in product form.

   I disagree with one thought he has however. While water won't strictly damage ceramic tile, flooding can degrade any mortar and pop the tiles. I've been remediating a 40,000 sq ft building for 3 years that floods over ceramic.

   I'd still want the floor cleaned and tiled, BUT you should determine the substance of the flooring that exist now before tearing it out.

   Another option would be a self leveling compound, concrete backer board, and tile over. It would cause you to lose about an inch in floor to ceiling height.

   I think I'd want to investigate the flooding problem first, perhaps install a new sump pump or maybe add a second one. At the very least I might invest in flush to the floor pumps as well.

Steven Wolf

Just my two "sense"