Thanks you for the detailed response. I have similar thoughts, not sure if I will change my mind for carpet in the future. I will get the wetlook sealer and test a few areas.
You mentioned having come in and seal the basement? what was the reason for this?
After the basement floor is poured and cured, it continues to dry, the #1 issue was the dust....we were fighting dust for half a year after completion of the house— upstairs there was the drywall dust that got in every crack and crevice and just seemed to emerge around the hardwood floors. But the basement would generate dust at will—as in unlimited and never ending dust.
In anticipation of this, I had a concrete flooring company come in to seal the basement floor...all 1,800 sq feet of it, about a month after it was poured. They used a spray application industrial sealer that when applied was to lock in the concrete...so the top layer doesn’t dry out. The problem was that only lasted about 3 months and I’m guessing it was absorbed into the concrete, the result was never ending dust once again. Even after multiple sweeps and mopping. The floor would dry and you could run a broom over it and generate concrete dust.
So I determined multiple coats of sealer was needed.
There are more expensive options I could have gone —but at the time, we were using the extra funds for furniture and whatnot.
I wanted to do an acid etch/stain on the concrete—which there are many options, and then lock it in with a wet look sealer. But, I know my limitations and didn’t want to screw it up. The quote for that in the basement was around $2.50 sq/ft or $5,000 for the entire basement....a little too steep for an area i may be covering with carpet tile.
Then there is the epoxy flooring which looks great and lasts forever—but say goodbye to the concrete look. Those are popular in garages, oil spills clean nicely on them. Those can be applied with metal flake for design or they have really beautiful additives and coloring options to give it a deep artistic look. This is also the most expensive option. I believe I was quoted at $5 sq/ft in my garage. If I wanted to do it myself, the epoxy product alone at Home Depot was around $1,000 for the 1,000 sq feet area in my garage. Again, there was also the risk of possibly screwing it up and having something permanently applied that needs to be ground off to go back to base concrete and start over.
So I went with option 3 and for about $300 I purchase many gallons of the Behr wetlook sealer and using a paint roller and pole handle, applied three coats to the basement floor. The dust stopped and the concrete was sealed in. The product has worked really well, but I have to make a decision soon, because with all the foot traffic around the pool tables, the sealer is starting to scratch and peel away, and a reapplication will be needed.
I want to research a concrete polishing service—which is basically someone with a large circular buffer continually buffs the concrete with an applied product and brings it to a glassy shine. It’s what I was told all the floors of Home Depot’s and Lowe’s have. This is a rugged, but permanent way to take care of the dust. Not as glossy as the epoxy, but not as susceptible to scratches and peeling as the sealer is. If I could rent the machine, I might be able to do it myself. Just another thing to put on the list of stuff to do.