I bought a house that has a cement floor basement, that has been tiled with those tiny 1 inch square bathroom tiles. The grout has all fallen out and in the summer it sweats and is damp and in the winter it is really cold. Can I paint over these ugly tiles or something. In the winter I lay a carpet on top but in the summer the carpet gets wet from the humidity so we leave the floor bare. I'd love to cover this really ugly floor with a sub floor but you are always warning against sub floors in basements. What choices do I have? Keep the tiles, re-grout and paint on top? Break out the tiles? I'm at a loss.
Answer:
There has to be a drainage problem under the concrete slab floor or you would not be getting the amount of condensation you're talking about. Track that down, correct it, re-grout the tiles and then you can paint them or lay carpet over them or whatever but I'd still be afraid to put a sub-floor in there.
