A damp-smelling basement or a bare, cold slab? We check the concrete for moisture first, then put down a floor that suits what we find.
Basement flooring in Waxahachie is a finished floor laid over the concrete slab, or over an existing floor, in a room below ground level, and it turns a bare concrete room into one that feels like the rest of your house.
Below-ground concrete sits right against the dirt, so the first thing I want to know isn't what color you like. It's what the slab and walls are doing with water. A basement floor is a lot like a barn floor poured on low ground. You can put a nice finish on it, but if water's working up from underneath, the finish is the part that gives.
Price moves with the room's size, the shape the slab is in, whether an old floor or coating has to come off, and which floor you pick. Water matters most, because drainage work has to be planned and paid for before the new floor. The schedule follows the same list, since prep and any drainage come first. After I see the floor, my estimate lays out your options and the price for your room.
Three things decide whether a basement floor lasts, and none of them is the floor itself. Here's what I'd want you to know about the slab, the moisture layer and damp walls.
One flooring maker's guide has the concrete tested for relative humidity, moisture and pH, a reading of how alkaline it is, before its floor goes in. It's a fair question to put to anyone bidding your basement, us included, and I'll show you what I'm looking at on your slab and why it matters.
Over below-grade concrete or an old floor, one maker requires a poly film under its vinyl plank as an extra layer of moisture protection. The same maker says a concrete sealer can serve as another kind of protection, so which layer fits depends on the floor you choose and what your slab shows.
If your walls get damp now and then but water never runs down them, skipping an interior drain is something you can weigh. The way to weigh it is to compare what the drain costs with what replacing a finished floor would cost if it ever gets wet. I'll help you think that through.
Here's how a basement job goes with us, from the first call to the day you walk on the new floor. You'll know who's coming and what each visit is for.
Call (972) 903-8033 or fill out our form. We get back to you and set a time for me to come look at the basement myself, so the person sizing up your floor is the one who'll be on the job.
I look over the slab and the walls, pointing out cracks, old coatings and any sign of moisture as we go. Then I explain your options and give you an estimate for your room.
Once you're ready, our crew does the prep first, because that's where most floor trouble starts. Then the floor goes down, and I'm there on the job with them.
When it's done, I walk the floor with you and go over how to look after it, so you know what it likes and what to keep an eye on down there.
Before any floor goes down below ground, I look closely at the slab and the walls for signs of water, because a basement can seem dry while moisture keeps coming up through the concrete. If the walls get wet, we talk through drainage first. It's like fixing a leaky hydraulic line before you paint the tractor. Do it backward and you end up paying for the floor twice.
Most floor failures I've seen started under the floor, so prep gets the time it needs. Concrete grinding and surface preparation takes off old coatings and opens up the surface, so whatever goes down sits on clean, sound concrete. Cracks get dealt with then, not covered up. Where the slab needs protecting, concrete sealing can be part of the plan, depending on the floor you choose.
One maker's vinyl plank can go over an existing basement floor as well as bare concrete, with the same moisture layer. I lean toward seeing the bare slab, because what's under an old floor is exactly what I need to check.
A coating bonds right to the concrete, so the slab has to be clean, sound and dry enough to hold it. A floor laid on top carries its own moisture layer. What your slab shows usually decides which one makes sense.
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time for me to come see your basement. The estimate is free and done in person at your house, and there's no obligation to go ahead.
(972) 903-8033In Waxahachie, the city's residential remodel permits cover work on an existing home that changes its structure and layout, not single trade repairs like reroofing. Whether a basement floor alone falls under that is the city's call. We check with the local permit office while we plan your job and handle any permit the work calls for. Any wiring added along the way follows the city's amended electric code.
The ground around here is heavy clay. Across Ellis County, a little over half the rated acres sit in the very high shrink-swell class, soil that swells when it's wet and shrinks as it dries. We're based in Waxahachie and do the same basement work in Midlothian and Ennis, and the first visit goes the same way there, with the slab and walls checked before we talk finishes.
I come out myself to look at your floor and go over the job with you. Our crew does the work, and I'm on the job with them, so the person who saw the damp spot on your wall is the one making sure the prep gets done right. We've been doing this since 2013. That's 13 years of reading slabs before covering them.
We're licensed and fully insured. Your satisfaction, guaranteed. I won't push you toward a floor your slab can't carry, and I'll tell you straight when the answer is drainage first. When you're ready, call (972) 903-8033 or send us the form.
Old paint, glue or a worn coating on your basement slab has to come off before anything new goes down, and grinding gets the concrete clean and ready.
If part of your basement stays bare concrete or the slab needs extra protection under a new floor, a sealer helps keep the surface from soaking up spills and dust.
We're based in Waxahachie and work in many cities around it, including Midlothian, Ennis, DeSoto, Mesquite and Grand Prairie. If your city isn't listed below, call and ask.
Across the US, basement flooring installation usually runs about $2,500 to $8,000 for a typical project, and that's a market figure, not our price. Your number depends on the room's size, the slab's condition, any drainage work and the floor you pick. I'll give you an estimate for your basement once I've seen it.
Yes, some LVP is made for basements, as long as moisture gets dealt with first. One maker rates its waterproof LVP for rooms below ground, for indoor use only, but says the floor isn't meant to act as a moisture barrier. So any moisture problem has to be found and fixed before it goes in.
Not necessarily, because a basement floor can look dry only because moisture coming up through the slab evaporates into the room air. Cover that slab with a floor that blocks moisture, and water can collect on the concrete or in the flooring. A dry look is a starting point, not a green light.
If your walls get visibly wet or water drains onto the floor, an interior drain system should go in before the basement is finished. Putting one in means cutting out the outer edge of the concrete floor, so it has to be planned and priced ahead of the new floor, not after.
Most of the time goes into what happens before the floor goes down, not the floor itself. Drainage work, if your walls call for it, comes first, then prep like grinding and crack repair. If the job needs a permit, the city's review adds time too. I'll lay out the order of work at the estimate.
Jot down when your walls get damp and whether water ever reaches the floor, since that tells me whether drainage has to come first. If you can, clear enough of the floor that I can see the concrete or the old flooring. Photos from a rainy week help too.
Call (972) 903-8033 or send the form, and you'll know what your slab and walls are doing before you spend a dime on a floor.
