Finishing Basement: Laminate Flooring and Drywall

I'm trying to finish my basement, and had a few questions:

1. I've narrowed down my choice of flooring to be Laminate Flooring (prob get them from SAMs). If I am laying it on top of the concrete slab, can I just lay down a vapor barrier first, then install the laminate on top of that? Anything else? I did not want to make the layer below the laminate too thick because I did not want to lose much height, and I also wanted to keep costs down.

2. The basement is currently just framed out. Which comes first: Installing Drywall on the walls, or installing the flooring (Laminate)? My current assumption is Drywall, Flooring, and then the trim/molding. If so, do I install the Drywall straight down to the floor on the framings, or put some spacing between the floor and the bottom edge of the drywall? How much?

FYI, I did the moisture test: taped pieces of aluminum foil on the floor and on the walls for 48 hours, and found no moisture under them. But I did get some mildew on the underside of my ping-pong table and mold/mildew on fabrics of things left in the unfinished basement (i.e. baby carrier) over 2 years. Since then, I have insulated all the poured concrete walls (3/4 of the perimeter of the basement) with Formular 150s, and 2x4 framing in front of them. I think the vapor barrier on the floor is enough?

Thanks for any input.

ballengerb1

1. You do not lay laminate on concrete or other sub floors without first laying down the manufacturers foam pad. The instructions will tell you if their pad qualifies as a vapor barrier as weel as a pad. You should also by a shimming kit since no concrete floor is truely flat. If you go really cheap with this flooring material you will soon be very dissatisfied.
2. "assumption is Drywall, Flooring, and then the trim/molding" you are correct if you also assume we knew you meant framing the studs first. Do not allow plain white wood 2x4 to be your floor plate, you must use pressure treated lumber. Drywall sits up 1/4" above floor. You might consider paperless drywall for a basement, it resists mold very well.

I have never used aluminim foil for a moisture test, I use plastic but aluminim sounds like it would work. The mold on the bottom side of the table is tell you the truth over the long haul, you have moisture.

takabanana

1. They have 2mm foam underlayment attached on the bottom of them already. Here are a few I am looking at:
Sam's Club - Living Laminate Flooring - Raven Oak - 36 pk.
Sam's Club - Lock 'n Seal Premium - Amber Oak - 36 pk.
Sam's Club - Lock 'n Seal Premium - Brazilian Cherry - 30 pk.
I've read in many places that you can use poly moisture barrier under the foam underlayment (in my case, already part of the laminate) directly on top of the foundation. Was just checking to see if that was the case. Can I get a shimming kit at Home Depot or Lowes? What is it, just a set of really thin wood (like when you install Doors), or is it concrete? I can't seem to find it.

2. Yes - the stud framing is already done throughout the basement. OK, so Drywall first on the framing before doing the flooring; that's what I thought.

ballengerb1

Looks like you have a pre-installed foam pad so that takes care of that, not all laminate has this pre-installed. Glanced over their literature and did not readily find the answer to does it qualify as a moisture barrier, probaly does but read their installer guide further. Shim kits for laminate are not wood or concrete, generally a hard plastic. They should be in both stores, ask the clerk because they may be around the corner of an end cap.

mike jones 1269

good luck with that product like they say you get what you pay for...i had a customer that called me and ask me to install his own flooring and when i got there it was sams laminate and i found that it was very cheep and also wanted to seperrate at the joints before we even got done installing it. if your dead set on this flooring then i would reccomend glueing the joints also. lowes and depot both sell laminate glue and a moisture barrier would not hurt. you can purchase a construction grade 6 mill. at both stores also.