The Best Way to Cover a Basement Floor
- 1). Clean the basement floor and get it completely dry. Lay floating floor underlayment over it in rows, side by side, over the whole floor. Cut the plastic underlayment as needed with a razor knife to fit, and tape the edges of the pieces together.
- 2). Set the first course of floorboards along the starting wall, snapping the boards together end to end and setting them so the groove sides of the boards face the wall. Leave a gap of 1/4 inch between the boards and the wall (to allow for movement of the floor over time), putting plastic shims every few feet as you lay the board.
- 3). Cut the last piece in the course on your miter saw so it fits against the side wall.
- 4). Lay the subsequent courses of flooring by attaching the boards at the sides to the previous course and locking them in place. Stagger the boards so the ends don't line up between courses. Work your way across the whole floor, course by course.
- 5). Cut the boards of the final course length-wise on a table saw so they will go next to the ending wall while leaving a 1/4 inch gap there.
- 6). Measure the edges of the floor for your floor trim. Cut it as needed on a miter saw. Install it with a trim nail gun. The trim should cover the gaps by the walls.
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