I recently bought a house with a sokkelleilighet in the basement. We are redoing the floor and right now we have it stripped down to bare concrete, which we are going to have leveled with self-leveling compound. We decided on a floating floor with cork and laminate ([Wicanders Wood Go Linen Oak](https://www.wicanders.com/products/wood/go/linen-oak-302)) because we read about cork insulating well, but we’re starting to get worried by people telling us that the floor’s going to be cold. Under these cork laminate pieces will be another layer of cork and then a plastic moisture barrier layer under that.

Does anyone have experience with installing flooring (cork or otherwise) in a basement on top of concrete? A contractor told us a surefire option for the floors to stay warm would be heated floors, but that’s out of budget. Could we increase the insulation by doubling the sheets of cork under the cork laminate boards? I’m wondering if the floor will just inevitably be cold or if there’s some better option we don’t know about. And if the floor is cold, is that something a tenant can live with as long as the heaters are on and they have some slippers?

5 comments

  1. Basement floors without heating are always a bit on the cold side, but not so much that it would typically be a deal breaker for someone looking to rent an apartment.

  2. I was told that a hardwood/parkette will be warmer.
    And that was what we pick for out basement!

  3. Well, unless you have a heat source, it will be cold-ish. Laminate is a bit colder than wood (parkett).

    Carpet is warmer though, but might not be what you are looking for.

  4. you can get foil, might not have to be too expensive.

    If you want extra insulation under the floor I would go for depron or similar, it has much better insulation than cork (cork is good but not great), but obviously not suited in the laminate floor

    Anyways there are two things determining if a floor is warm or not.

    1. The actual floor temperature, like insulation.
    2. The thermal conductivity of the floor, like how really cold ESP is quite warm to sit on. Wood is much better than tiles for a cold floor. Your choice would be somewhere in between or better than wood, this could be the cork part of the floor “shining”. But you should make sure it’s good.

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