A very common problem with a lot of basements is water seeping onto the basement floor. And of course this is not only gives problems with mold and mildew, but it makes it extremely difficult to store items such as cardboard boxes which are prone to disintegrate or turn moldy in such damp conditions. There is course a whole industry based on fixing problems with damp basements who can certainly fix most problems for a price, but what if you don't wish to spend a fortune on making the basement totally waterproof. Are there any other options which can improve the situation?
Whilst it may not be possibly to effectively stop water from entering without specialized treatment work, one option you could consider is installing a "floating" type floor that provides good air circulation and prevents tracking of moisture to the new surface.
One type of product you can use to achieve this is interlocking flooring tiles fitted with an integral plastic base. Whilst these types of tiles are most commonly used in exterior situations such as patios, decks and balconies to cover existing concrete or other hard surfaces, they can certainly be used very effectively for interior applications such as this.
The advantage in using a product such as interlocking flooring tiles is that the open structure plastic mesh base prevents water tracking to the wood surface, allows excess water to drain away underneath the tiles, and provides good air circulation at floor level. And with interlocking wood deck tiles, there are gaps between the individual wood slats for additional air circulation.
Interlocking tiles are very easily installed over the existing floor by simply snapping them together. You normally start in one corner of the room and work outwards in an expanding triangular fashion until you reach the other wall. If you are left with a gap that is less than the width of a full tile, then you can easily cut the wood tiles with a power saw or handsaw.
If you would prefer not to use wood, then you'll find that this type of interlocking flooring tile is available in a number of different surface materials including slate, granite, porcelain and composite wood, such as the range of tiles from HandyDeck. And in many cases you can "mix and match" the different tile options to create your own individualised flooring design.
There's probably only one particular point you need to consider when laying down this type of tile. And that is where you have a have a door opening inwards into the basement. Because the tiles will raise the floor level between about 1"-1 " depending on the type of tile, you may need to consider either trimming the base of the door so it will clear the tiles, adjusting the door hinges so that the door swings outwards instead of inwards, or leaving out few tiles the door opens into the basement.
For a quick, cost-effective effective and easy to install solution to dampness problems in your basement, interlocking floor tiles are definitely worth considering. And of course they can certainly brighten up any drab concrete floor you may currently have.