Hello,

I removed old vinyl tiles in my basement. I am left with the old black mastic on my cement floors and wood stairs leading down into basement. I have had a few estimates on removal and I get different opinions from them. I have received estimates for the mastic removal of $1000 to $2500. Some contractors told me I shouldn't bother removing it and just cover over it. Others say that it would be better to replace my wooden stairs. My basement/stairs area is about 450 sq. ft.

What are my options for new flooring for carpeting, vinyl sheeting or tiles. Can I get by without removing the mastic. I am seeing differences of opinions on the matter.
I am really confused. I want something ecomonical, but something that will hold up over time. I want a shortcut/ecomonical solution that will work, that I won't regret down the road. Removal of the mastic is too big a job for me.

Any expert advise would be truly appreciated. Thanks Janet.

You have already missed out on the cheapest and fastest short cut by taking up the tile. Unless there were many loose tiles you could have carpeted over the old tiles. Padding and carpet could be laid over the old mastic. The best application would be something like AirCore board. This is a 1/2" particle board mounted on a black plastic bubble sheet. It allow an air gap for circulation and helps prevent mildew from forming when the concrete allow moisture to enter the basement.

Unfortunately, when we pulled up the carpet much of the tile was stuck to it. So we had to remove it.

Doesn't help you much now, but we've often used thinset to fill the areas of missing tiles, to keep from pulling it all up.

Unless I'm misunderstanding your situation, your path is kind of straight forward.

Ballenger is spot on with the air gap, as it's always good to do this preventative measure when you have access to the unfinished floor in a basement, ESPECIALLY when laying carpet, as it's a sponge, but you would want to do this, regardless of whether you had mastic on your floor or not.

I can't imagine why someone would tell you that you needed a new set of stairs because of the mastic. If you wanted a wood floor, I might consider replacing the treads & risers, but it's ridiculous to tell someone to replace them otherwise. Carpet can be laid over the old adhesive with no issue and is done by professionals on a daily basis with no issues.

Vinyl over the mastic is a trickier situation, as it would be tough to get the floor as smooth as necessary to prevent early degradation of the new floor. Leveling over top of the mastic would concern me as it's flexible, so I would worry about the thinset falling apart over time. Ballenger's suggestion of the subfloor would resolve this problem and allow you to use practically any floor you want, providing it's secured firmly.

My thoughts are that if you're going with carpet, go to town right now. If you're considering vinyl, then the mastic has got to go, either the hard way, or by covering it up.

Thanks,
Json

Thanks for the replies. I have a couple questions, just to make sure I am understanding this. Is the AirCore board used as a padding for the carpet or do I lay the AirCore Board, then padding, then carpet? Or do I even need padding for carpeting. Not to sound too stupid but is AirCore a brand name for a subfloor material?

Also if I decide on vinyl flooring I should use a subfloor over the mastic, in lieu of removing it, is that correct. I heard you should not use a subfloor on the basement floor, and it didn't make sense to me, and I didn't get a explanation of why. But I am completely clueless on anything handy. I am a girly girl, sorry.

Thanks

Hi there Janet,

The product I know of is "DriCore", but I'm sure it's the same product that ballengerb1 is talking about.

It is not used as your carpet padding. Think of it as a new shot at a subfloor. You will lay carpet padding over this IF the carpet you chose requires it. Many carpets are considered "glue down", which glues directly to the floor, and has a small amount of padding built into the bottom of the carpet itself. Other carpet utilizes tack strips to hold the carpet in place after it's stretched. This carpet commonly requires a padding underneath. If you download the installation manual, you will find that it tells you what your options are for finished floors.

Thanks,
Json

Id leave it alone and go over it with carpet. Or a floating floor.
Unless it is really rough and has high ridges just leave it.
Now obviously you can't put down vinyl floor because of the roughness