Carpet pad

[Ben H]

So I'm almost to the point of having carpet re-installed in the basement remodel. I was hoping someone with some experience on carpet pad could chime in about high end pad with single/dual moisture barrier. Is it worth the extra dough? Or, is it a must on concrete basement floor?

[kurt]

We always use spun poly pad that breathes. The moisture barrier stuff turns to mold farm.

[Ben H]

We always use spun poly pad that breathes. The moisture barrier stuff turns to mold farm.

Junk? http://www.homedepot.com/p/Scotchgard-1 ... /202561369

[kurt]

I wouldn't call it junk. But, I've found moisture barriers in basement carpet pad to be like moisture barriers in walls or anywhere else; where is moisture going to go if you block it?

We've always used the spun poly pad because it breaths.

[Ben H]

Makes sense.

[kurt]

I've taken to pulling corners of carpet when I'm inspecting finished basements (that have carpet). The tack strip is almost always stained and stinky, and if you lift the foam pad, it stinks like mold.

I suppose in a bone dry new house basement with capillary breaks, drain tile, and every other iteration of moisture control, it would be fine, but I don't see many of those.

[John Kogel]

Ben, you might look into laying down a subfloor? The stuff I'm thinking of is OSB with a sheet of dimpled plastic attached to the underside. I've never used it but seen it used.

[kurt]

That's the Home Depot take on Delta FL. If you're using a subfloor, you want it. Carpet on concrete, get spun pad.

[Tom Raymond]

He is way too far into his project for Delta.

I would want the carpet to breathe as much as the pad. The plastic fiber area rug in my dining room creates enough of a VB that the 144 year old T&G tulip floor cups slightly under it.

Interestingly, the white pine in the living room stays flat under an identical rug less than 6' away.