I have a smooth and level concrete basement floor. Part of the basement has carpet and there are peel and stick tiles on another part of it, many of which are peeling off, and part of it is bare concrete.

The basement is partially finished and I want to finish it off but money is an issue, so it'll be going in fits and starts. When I bought flooring for my upstairs it was on a good sale, so I have extra for the basement. In addition, I have some click vinyl tiles I want to install in my furnace room and my laundry room. The laundry room has a slight slope down to a drain.

I know that to install laminate wood flooring (which I plan to do on the rest of the floor in the living area) I need to have some kind of vapor barrier/underlayment. Do I need the same thing for underneath the vinyl tile floor? What is the recommended product for this type of installation? I have installed the tile in my sunroom, and it was very easy to do, so I'm planning to do this myself. Any information is appreciated.

Also, how do I deal with this drain? Do I just trim a piece of flooring around it and put a new metal drain thingy on top? The drain is cemented into place, and although it looks cemented over, it actually does drain, as I discovered when the laundry drain pipe disconnected. There is also what I'm assuming is related to the drain that I think might be a clean out? There is a "lid" on top with a square piece, like you see in the front yard in white plastic, only this is metal. The square piece is quite high above the floor. Whatever it is, I doubt I would ever be able to take the "lid" off. Here's a picture so you know what I'm talking about because I don't know the lingo.

Thanks!