Basement flooring options? Norsk EVA foam

Submitted by Mklein24 t3_10q6pw1 in DIY

My wife and I want to make our basement more comfortable for our daughter to play in and give her and maybe another one eventually, a "Chaos Space" as we'll call it.

Some information about the house:

  • It's ~110 years old, concrete block and slab foundation.
  • The basement is 20ftx22ft total, about half would be the chaos space so about 320sqft
  • The house is up on a hill and the basement is bone dry. We got lucky here, the floor is actually dusty because there is never any water down there. It all drains away from us to the back/front yard.

I've looked into LVT, but there is a large hump in the floor where the water main comes in which would prevent any kind of rigid flooring from sitting flat. I had some leftover and tried to bend it over it, and it's just too much variation to deal with. The solution would be to grind the concrete down to soften the contours. Something I don't have the time to do currently.

I was thinking of using Norsk EVA foam on the floor. I think the fun, bright colors would help it not feel like a dark, sad basement, it can flex over the imperfections on the floor, and it can be cut easily to wrap around the few bits of infrastructure. Its padded so I don't have to worry about LO bumping her head when she falls as much as a rigid floor. The stuff is pretty cheap compared to LVT and I could install it much faster.

Is there any reason NOT to use this? The main reasons I see against it would be moisture but I don't seem to have that problem. It seems to check all the boxes for the project. Cheap, fast installation, safe.

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marigolds6 t1_j6oijsy wrote

Test them out first. There is a lot of variability in quality of these kinds of tiles. They often need to be taped together to prevent gapping, sliding, and spreading. Some tear very easily, others will take impressions easily (and permanently).

Even with quality tiles, there is a good chance they will still slide on the concrete and you might need something underneath to prevent that. When I have seen these used in dojos and gyms, they frequently use carpet tiles.

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marigolds6 t1_j6om8hr wrote

If you look for Tatami tiles, that's another type of closed cell EVA foam tile, also commonly called judo mats (normally 7/8" thick) or MMA mats (normally 1" thick). A step up from that would be cross-linked polyethylene foam (XLPE), with a vinyl facing; these are marketed as lightweight home wrestling mats. If you go that route, you will want rollout mats over folding mats for a more permanent installation.

Check out the video section here for some great and overly dramatic explanations:

https://www.rubberflooringinc.com/gym-mat/4-6-114-junior-wrestling-mat.html#!

(They have some very extensive buyer's guides on this site too.)

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Mklein24 OP t1_j6opumt wrote

Slipperiness is considered. I may put down some double sided tape or maybe a small dab of construction adhesive on a few of the tiles. Something to give it a bit of shear strength. They will be going wall to wall in one direction so I'm hoping that they'll have some structure that way.

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marigolds6 t1_j6oucyd wrote

Wall to wall won't hold them, because they expand and contract a significant amount with any temperature change. Before using double sided tape or construction adhesive, I would suggest using low pile carpet tiles under the mats. With this, the mats won't get damaged if they shift, and it is easier to pick them up and clean them or clean under them (like if something gets spilled on them).

Buy a few rolls of mat tape and use those to cover all the seams. You can go with clear, or get colored opaque "striping" mat tape if you want to have some sort of pattern to your edges and completely hide the seams. That will make the tiles shift as one big mat, reduce gaps, resist spills and dirt getting under the mats, and make anchoring the mats more effective.

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Mklein24 OP t1_j6ovuqr wrote

Tape would be a good idea. I wonder if a couple of well placed thick carpet-pads would work to hold it down. We have some of those holding down rugs on a wood floor and they work really well.

Edit: norsk website actually says just put it on the floor. The use of an adhesive or other backing isn't advised.

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Ljo128 t1_j6p6ja8 wrote

We used these tiles in our playroom over indoor/outdoor thin carpet. They worked great for 5 years, and then started to look pretty ratty. My advice would be to choose a tile that’s pretty thick, but smooth on the top instead of dimpled. The dimpled surface made it really difficult to keep clean, especially with play-doh/crumbs/dirt you might expect in a playroom. For a longer-term solution I’d suggest rolled vinyl flooring with some thick rugs on top for comfort.

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ripgressor1974 t1_j6o5vy9 wrote

You could add a Vapor Barrier Underlayment before putting the foam tiles down, they make carpet tiles that may work for you as well.

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No_Pomegranate2580 t1_j6p137v wrote

Seal the floor with an anti slip sealant, then put down the Norsk.

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