They have engineered hardwood that is made for basements or cement floors. Its a floating floor, also pergo is a nice choice, easy to clean, looks like hardwood, but is low maintenance.

I think the rubberized mat squares would be the way to go. Easy to clean or replace and they help cushion the feet and knees from the hardness of walking on concrete.

Also check out the faux wood vinyl planks...they look like the real McCoy, easy to install, inexpensive, and not a problem with water. Check out Konecto.com to start. A friend used them in the bathroom...they look amazing.

Why not use a neutral wall to wall carpet?

Carpet and water are not the best combination if one wants flooring that won't be a problem if water intrusion does occur.

I put berber carpeting in mine. Looked beautiful. I was going to do Pergo but carpet was less expensive. I put it before we listed.

Prior to this, we had carpet for 20 years which did get wet once. Our water softner drain came loose one night while it was backwashing and flooded the basement. Our insurance would not replace but sent a company which dried it out. The carpet was fine for years after.

Jane

Thanks everyone, lots of great suggestions for me to check out.

Carpet would be a great choice it it weren't below grade, since it's perfectly acceptable in houses like this and much less expensive than hardwood. I did consider putting in carpet as a way of saying to buyers that our basement (or whatever it's called when it's half below ground) doesn't flood, but decided that sort of hubris might be punished in too ironic a way.

Here in NOVA, EWV, WMD, we looked at a lot of houses (15+) for sale last year and I don't recall seeing a walk-out or below-grade family room that wasn't carpeted. One might have been vinyl, can't remember for sure.

Maybe I'm outside the norm, but I never looked at one and thought about it flooding. If that was a realistic concern, I wouldn't consider buying the house regardless of the flooring.

Since you are selling, carpet seems like the best ROI; not sure someone will pay extra for wood down there. What do the comps in your area have?

Carpet can be inexpensive and would provide some warmth on a cold, below grade floor. If you have a water problem, that must be fixed first.

I've seen carpet in similar homes, but I've also seen what I think is vinyl. I'm not always sure what different floorings are to be honest.

I guess I've assumed that any below-grade room can flood under the right circumstances. Maybe that's not true.

To do carpet it must not only be dry, it must also not be damp. If there is high humidity down there and it isn't addressed the carpet will take on a funky smell. My basement is bone dry, but in the summer the humidity rises enough that we use a dehumidifier.

Thanks. Maybe because it's only half below ground, it's never felt humid to me -- but it does stay cool in the summer, which I love.

We had a raised ranch with a family room like that. We put dricore down before carpeting.

The previous owners had carpeted right over the concrete, you could break a hip falling on it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dricore basement subflooring

Our house had vinyl tile over concrete before we put down carpeting. We had padding under the carpet so it was not hard. We never had dampness or water and the carpet held up well with a lot of use.

Jane