[narobins]

I am living in a 80+ year old home with an unfinished basement. The basement is quite dry but the floor and is uneven with pitted concreate in places. I am looking for suggestions as to how to even and insulate this floor. Is there types of foam out their that will avoid me having to use self leveling cement? Other suggestions?

[ballengerb1]

You might explore a product called DriCore. Its particle board mounted on a very firm plystyrene bubble wrap. You can shim it or use a self leveling concrete. It provides some insulation, moisture barrier and a sfaety gap in case there is seapage. Dricore Subfloor Systems is the essential air gap subfloor system with a moisture barrier

[CyFree]

Based on the same principle as DriCore (allow the concrete to breathe by raising the surface from the floor, provide moisture and thermal protection) there is a product called ThermalDry which has a significant advantage over DriCore: it has NO particle board surface.

It is a 100% waterproof, inorganic, interlocking plastic tiles that , unlike the particle board, will never soak up water and grow mold, even if your basement floods and is completely under water. You just take them out, dry them off and put them back.
Thermal dry also offers pre-finished options, eliminating expenses with both flooring and sub-flooring.

This product is only available through the manufacture's (Total Basement Finishing) dealership network, and they install the product themselves. Last time I checked, the price for the product installed by a dealer was about the same as you'd pay for uninstalled DriCore in some hardware stores.

[21boat]

looking for suggestions as to how to even and insulate this floor. Is there types of foam out their that will avoid me having to use self leveling cement? Other suggestions?

If you actually want to insulates the floor I posted a video on how to Insulate the floor. If the floor needs some patching and depending on how bad it it the big box store has a cementious product manufacture "Henry" that can be feathered. If the floor is basically OK the foam board will span some imperfections as It goes over.

To put a sealer down before the foam lets check the moisture content in the floor. Here is how toy check for moisture the old way. This test will tell you if there is 5% of moisture in it or not and to get it dry enough for good sealer applications Take a piece of plastic and cut 18"x18" square. Lay the plastic flat on the floor and duct tape the edges. Wait 16 hrs and see if there is any water droplets or any wetness in it. If there is the floor 5% and above in moisture and needs dried out for sealer. There are some sealers that can handle the existing moisture but read carefully and use my gage to measure mostiure content in it. If no wetness them seal it and then the foam Insulation.

The suggestions above are very good but it doesn't actually insulate the floor But maybe that doesn't matter

YouTube - Best way to insulate a basement 800x600

Signed 21 Boat

If I Helped To Answer Your Question Please Rate My Answer