Affordable, non-toxic floating floor for the basement?
I am looking for an affordable flooring choice for our finished basement. We are putting hardwoods in throughout the main floor, but need to save a little in the basement. I would prefer a floating floor over a glue down floor due to our toddler’s chemical sensitivities. I would also prefer something other than tile (hard, cold, a pain to rip up if we needed to) or concrete (hard and we have very young kids). I like the idea of the Marmoleum Click flooring but cannot afford $6ish a square foot. We are really only looking to spend less than $3 a square foot for materials. I like LVT, but am concerned about the chemicals, phthalates, etc. A lot of cork flooring has vinyl in it too. Any help? Thank you!
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Do you have a separate labor budget beyond $3/sf, or will it be DIY labor? You're going to be hard pressed to find decent engineered hardwood for $3 a square foot; in that range, you're looking at a very thin wear layer, an MDF/HDF core, made in China with unregulated levels of formaldehyde, or likely all of the above. I'm not a fan of organic materials in basements anyway; when the basement floods, an engineered hardwood floor will be ruined, especially one with an MDF core. Solid hardwood can survive a flood better but is a bad idea in a basement. Honestly tile or bare concrete are what makes the most sense given chemical sensitivities.
How about some big area rugs made of cotton or wool for warmth and softness?