Best Flooring for Basement Daycare?

[LittleScholars]

I'm sorry to ask another question! I have so many this week.

We are in the process of finishing our basement to move the basement down there. Any tips of flooring? Our whole house is totally carpet-free because I have terrible allergies. Ideally, I'd like something that can cushion a fall more than hard concrete, but can still be swiffered clean. I do have lots of foam mats to cover different areas from my current room, but this will be a much bigger space.

Thank you!

[Annalee]

I'm sorry to ask another question! I have so many this week.

We are in the process of finishing our basement to move the basement down there. Any tips of flooring? Our whole house is totally carpet-free because I have terrible allergies. Ideally, I'd like something that can cushion a fall more than hard concrete, but can still be swiffered clean. I do have lots of foam mats to cover different areas from my current room, but this will be a much bigger space.

Thank you!

I have a concrete floor and I use these.http://www.samsclub.com/sams/util-a-...iles/107930.ip
They work great....economical, too. There is no way I could have paid for padded carpet for the price we paid.

[Ariana]

We had ceramic tile on our basement floor in our old house and that is where I ran my daycare (it was a walkout). It was cccccold!! Even in summer with the AC on it was freaking cold. I ended up covering as much as possible with rugs. It was GREAT for cleaning spills and paint etc but bery cold. I wore my socks down there 24/7.

I would go with a laminate wood floor. It is very soft and you can put padding underneath to cushion it and keep moisture away from it that can seep up from the concrete. That would be my number one choice. Easy to clean, not cold and soft from the padding!

[LittleScholars]

We had ceramic tile on our basement floor in our old house and that is where I ran my daycare (it was a walkout). It was cccccold!! Even in summer with the AC on it was freaking cold. I ended up covering as much as possible with rugs. It was GREAT for cleaning spills and paint etc but bery cold. I wore my socks down there 24/7.

I would go with a laminate wood floor. It is very soft and you can put padding underneath to cushion it and keep moisture away from it that can seep up from the concrete. That would be my number one choice. Easy to clean, not cold and soft from the padding!

Oh!! I love the idea of this with the foam mats covering the high traffic areas. These two suggestions are just perfect! Thank you both!!

[wonderfullisa]

I have a concrete floor and I use these.http://www.samsclub.com/sams/util-a-...iles/107930.ip
They work great....economical, too. There is no way I could have paid for padded carpet for the price we paid.

We have the same mats. It works great for us. The dining area is only laminate, so there is a zero tolerance policy on playing, there. The playroom is wall to wall mats. We do a lot of somersault races on them with no complaints. happyface

[wonderfullisa]

our floor

[Annalee]

We have the same mats. It works great for us. The dining area is only laminate, so there is a zero tolerance policy on playing, there. The playroom is wall to wall mats. We do a lot of somersault races on them with no complaints. happyface

We have a 24x32 room with bath and small kitchen...we left the eating area concrete with a few throw rugs for easy cleanup. The rest is wall to wall mats as well. I really like how the mats seal. We exchanged our mats this year and the others had been down since 2003. 13 years with no evidence of spills underneath when taken up......that is quality.

[DaveA]

I have a concrete floor and I use these.http://www.samsclub.com/sams/util-a-...iles/107930.ip
They work great....economical, too. There is no way I could have paid for padded carpet for the price we paid.

We had something similar in one center's gross motor room. It was a converted storage room and we didn't have any problems with them.

[Second Home]

I had laminate wood looking flooring in my basement daycare area . I then had a bunch of the foam square tiles and covered the whole play area . That way I had a floor I liked ( laminate) and then the softer mats on top for the kids to play on .

[Controlled Chaos]

I have laminate in the basement/daycare room. It came with the house. I like it. I have a car/road rug in the car and block area, I have a square rug in the book area, a rug in the infant corner and 6ftx5ft area of the colorful mats in the dramatic play area. The rugs keep it a little warmer down here and absorb some noise. I also like the assorted rugs to help differentiate the areas.

[LittleScholars]

Those mats look GREAT!! The mats I currently have are already worn after just a few months and they are starting to look really terrible.

[Annalee]

Those mats look GREAT!! The mats I currently have are already worn after just a few months and they are starting to look really terrible.

We changed ours out this year.....had them since 2003....so 13 years wasn't so bad....only reason they got so dingy is we renovated the house and ended up using daycare as part of our living space during the renovation.........alot of tracking made for some nasty spots....but I felt 13 years was good quality.

[Missjaime]

Those of you who have those mats - are they easy to sweep/mop? Really waterproof? They look like a great solution for my tile floors

[Annalee]

Those of you who have those mats - are they easy to sweep/mop? Really waterproof? They look like a great solution for my tile floors

I vacuum mine....if they get dirty, I use soap water mixture with a mr. clean eraser....I have used clorox clean up before as well...they clean up well...but I prefer not to use the yellow ones.....they seem to show dirt the worst.

[KiddieCahoots]

Wet swiffer works great to clean up these mats too