Interlocking Carpet Tiles For Family Room - Wet Basement Testimonial

My name is Tashia and in full disclosure, I am a Greatmats employee. I am also a homeowner who has an unfinished basement that occasionally gets wet a few weeks or so out of the year.

Spring in Wisconsin means the ground can get saturated from the melting snow and the springtime rains. Unfortunately, my basement is not watertight, water does seep in around the foundation and will come up through a couple of cracks in the floor. Some years are wetter than others so we have to be careful about what we put on the floor and where.

In the past, my husband and I have tried to make a cozy family space in the basement that always ends up getting wet and torn apart because we have to move all the furniture to remove wet rugs or carpet.

Choosing Between Basement Carpet Tiles

In February of 2022, we decided to try to make this basement space usable again. We wanted a family media area that our high school and college age children could use with their friends or the whole family could watch the latest superhero movie on the big screen.

We knew we wanted carpet flooring, but also needed something that was waterproof and easy to remove if the basement were to get wet. Since I work at a flooring company, I knew there were a couple options that would work very well for us! We thought about using the raised modular carpet tiles with a carpet top and polypropylene base, but opted for the 2’x2’ Royal Interlocking Carpet Tiles with a closed cell foam base because they would be easier to pull up if needed and we liked the idea of some cushion on the concrete floor.

Installation

The puzzle mat style installation was very easy and quick. We did not cover the entire floor, but covered a 12’ x 25’ area and a 4’ x 26’ walkway. The carpet tiles were easy to cut with a utility knife while placing a board underneath for stability and to make sure we didn’t cut through to the other tiles.



The tiles come with two edges attached and a directional arrow on the back showing how you should place them. It was very convenient to arrange the layout for the perimeter of our room and the edge of the walkway. We are very happy with how easy the flooring was to install, the tiles are super comfortable to walk on and look great in our space.

Here Comes The Water

As April rolled around, we noticed some wetness around the perimeter of the basement and were able to pull back some of the edge carpet tiles and leave the rest in place. A week or so later, we noticed that water was coming up through one of the cracks that runs across the entire floor. The bottom of the tiles were wet, but the foam had not absorbed the water.

I was able to pull up an entire row of carpet tiles without having to move any furniture or to pull up all of the flooring. The tiles dried off quickly without being damaged and the floor will dry up soon so we can reinstall our row of carpet tiles.




I am beyond pleased with these interlocking carpet tiles for my troublesome, occasionally leaky basement!



Tashia (Greatmats Employee)
Home Basement
Luck WI