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Basement flooring ideas

wct097

NPD Club President 2021-2022
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I need to put carpet back in the basement bedroom. The closet for the bedroom contains the air handler for the HVAC for that room and the master bedroom above it. There is also a floor drain for run-off from the air handler. This floor drain is on the same line as the floor drain for the other air handler and water heater in the utility room on the other end of the basement. These two drains had backed up previously and had to be snaked. The plumber was unable to get it to flow to his satisfaction having run the snake as far as he could go (couldn't find an exterior exit for the drain, assume it's been buried).

So my problem is that I don't want to put carpet back in without fixing the drain. When I give it more thought, I'm not exactly keen on putting carpet back in the closet, running up to the drain anyway. Would it be horrible to install linoleum in the closet with a transition to carpet at the door to the bedroom? Would let me deal with the drain later if it backs up again and would resolve my concerns of having carpet close to the drain. Might even save me a few dollars in carpet costs since the closet is pretty big as it is.
 

FinlayZJ

Doing hoodrat things
VIP
Get a couple of Little Giant condensate pumps. Pump the condensate outside. Then pour some Everprime (or similar) in the traps to keep them primed.

I'd vote for tile.
 

wct097

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Pump it where? This closet is below grade and not near any other drains.
 

wct097

NPD Club President 2021-2022
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Super Moderator
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I would go with tile, but the proximity to a large room full of tile that doesn't (and won't be) match(ed) makes me inclined to have a different medium.
 

wct097

NPD Club President 2021-2022
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What about those foam (?) interlocking mats used by gyms? You can get them in multi colored for kids play areas, not that I'm suggesting multi-colored for your application, but something like that might be good.
I'm doing that in the "gun room" so I can pass it off as a "home gym", but I don't think it works in the closet for a basement bedroom. Vinyl isn't a great choice, but it'll get me over the hump of "finishing" that room. I'll ultimately use it as my office until we sell, so it'll probably be filled with stuff making the flooring choice less visible to potential buyers.
 

wct097

NPD Club President 2021-2022
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Outside. Drill a 3/4" hole in the side of the house and run PVC through it. Caulk it and then connect to pumps.
Might be doable, but I still don't like the presence of water around carpet. Had a unit at the townhouse freeze up before and leak out when the drain wasn't the issue.
 

FinlayZJ

Doing hoodrat things
VIP
Might be doable, but I still don't like the presence of water around carpet. Had a unit at the townhouse freeze up before and leak out when the drain wasn't the issue.
You can set the unit on a pan and put the pump on the pan too. Install a float switch to shut the unit off. If the pump fails the pan backs up and the float will kill the unit.

Edit: You can also add a drain from the pan to the floor drain. Install this drain above where the float reads.

Level 1 - Condensate pump pumps to outside.
Level 2 - Condensate pump fails, pan starts to fill and float switch kills unit.
Level 3 - Pump fails, switch fails, then condensate goes from overflow to existing floor drain.

Floats can also he bad with audible alarms.
 
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wct097

NPD Club President 2021-2022
Staff member
Super Moderator
VIP
You can set the unit on a pan and put the pump on the pan too. Install a float switch to shut the unit off. If the pump fails the pan backs up and the float will kill the unit.

Edit: You can also add a drain from the pan to the floor drain. Install this drain above where the float reads.

Level 1 - Condensate pump pumps to outside.
Level 2 - Condensate pump fails, pan starts to fill and float switch kills unit.
Level 3 - Pump fails, switch fails, then condensate goes from overflow to existing floor drain.

Floats can also he bad with audible alarms.
If I were keeping the dump, I'd go to that level of trouble. I just need to get it passable to get it sold.
 

wct097

NPD Club President 2021-2022
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The other issue I have with the drain/pump setup is that the second drain which is tied in is in a place completely below grade. Would have to dig up the foundation to pull a pipe out.
 

Jays89YJ

Udaho
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What about those foam (?) interlocking mats used by gyms? You can get them in multi colored for kids play areas, not that I'm suggesting multi-colored for your application, but something like that might be good.

Like the stuff found here:

Interlocking Floors - Interlocking Mats and Tiles Greatmats
We buy that shit all the time. $13.85 / SF, but it's Roppe brand and not shit. That's more than tile.

I don't know what your looking for as far as suggestions. You've shot down the Little Giant condensate pump suggestion. Apparently there's another room close by in tile, so a transition strip from tile to tile isn't acceptable. Put down commercial grade LVT (plank) and transition to your shitty tile. Then the next time your *rigged drain backs up, you only have to peel back a few planks, clean/dry and reinstall. Or stain the concrete like kthrash said. Seems straightforward.
 

FinlayZJ

Doing hoodrat things
VIP
The other issue I have with the drain/pump setup is that the second drain which is tied in is in a place completely below grade. Would have to dig up the foundation to pull a pipe out.
Pour trap primer junk in each trap and leave it be. Why does it have to be pulled out?
 

wct097

NPD Club President 2021-2022
Staff member
Super Moderator
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Pour trap primer junk in each trap and leave it be. Why does it have to be pulled out?
Would the pump pull from the trap or before it reached the trap? Unless the pump is pulling from the drain and one will serve both drains, I don't see how it can work. I simply can't put a pump at the second drain that's tied to the one in question.
 

wct097

NPD Club President 2021-2022
Staff member
Super Moderator
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The drain off the air handling unit is routing to the Little Giant.

LITTLE GIANT CONDENSATE PUMPS, LITTLE GIANT PUMPS

The Little Giant outlet is then piped to the outside.

Pour Everprime in your existing floor drains so they don't dry out.
I have two air handlers in two rooms with two drains that are interconnected and backed up together. The utility room that houses the other air handler and water heater is not a place where I could reasonably put a pump due to being completely below grade (garage). No way to plumb a line out of there.

I'd eventually like to get the problem fixed completely, but would settle for simply not having carpet in the immediate proximity of the drain in the bedroom closet.
 

FinlayZJ

Doing hoodrat things
VIP
I have two air handlers in two rooms with two drains that are interconnected and backed up together. The utility room that houses the other air handler and water heater is not a place where I could reasonably put a pump due to being completely below grade (garage). No way to plumb a line out of there.
There is no portion of any basement wall that is not below grade?
 
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