Hamilton Carpet Installers fits broadloom and underpad in finished basements throughout Hamilton, Ontario, from the lower city to the top of the Mountain.
Barrier under the underpad where a slab reads damp
Power-stretched, not knee-kicked
Old flooring lifted, rolled and tied
Price a basement floor
Room size and what the floor has been through is enough to start.
Or call (289) 204-6246
What a Hamilton basement floor has to handle
A water history
Over 600 kilometres of combined sewers run under the former City of Hamilton, so a hard storm can surcharge the system back into a basement. We ask what your floor has already seen.
A barrier where it is needed
On a slab that reads damp we lay a moisture barrier under the underpad. That layer usually adds about $0.30 to $0.50 per square foot.
Slabs that have moved
A basement slab is poured flat and then spends decades settling, cracking and being patched around posts and drains. We check it with a straightedge before we quote.
Before the new floor goes down
Plumbing work comes first
If your house qualifies for the City's Protective Plumbing Program, a backwater valve belongs in before new carpet does, not after.
Below grade
The underpad decides how the room feels
Concrete pushes moisture upward even when the surface looks dry, which is why the layer between slab and carpet does more work in a basement than anywhere else in the house. We pick it for the slab in front of us rather than from a shelf.
Then the room gets stretched onto tack strip that is fixed into concrete rather than nailed into wood, and cut around the posts, the furnace room door and the bulkhead the ductwork runs in. Those details are why a basement takes longer to fit than a bedroom of the same size.
Reading the slab before we quote
The slab gets checked first
We check for damp and for high spots before quoting. Where concrete is pushing moisture upward, a moisture barrier goes under the underpad and adds roughly $0.30 to $0.50 per square foot.
Flatness matters as much as moisture
A slab is poured level and then spends decades settling, cracking and getting patched around posts, drains and a sump.
High spots get corrected before carpet, not after
Grinding a high spot or filling a dip runs about $1 to $2 per square foot of the area being prepared, far less than a seam that opens over a hump a year later.
Before the floor gets closed in
Get the dehumidifier running first
If the basement needs a dehumidifier in August, get it running before the floor is closed in – Hamilton summers are humid and the heating season dries interiors out again.
Room use sets the spec
A basement holding a gym, a home office or a spare bed gets a denser underpad and a heavier carpet than one that hosts a television and a couch twice a week.
A finished basement is the room a family actually lives in and the one most exposed to weather. Heavy rain can surcharge Hamilton's storm and sanitary sewers back into basements below grade. That history does not mean a basement cannot have carpet. It means the layers underneath get chosen deliberately.
Basement carpet questions
Can carpet go straight onto a basement slab?
It can, once the slab is dry, flat and clean. We check for damp and for high spots first, and lay a moisture barrier under the underpad where the reading calls for one.
Our basement took water in a storm. Is the old carpet worth keeping?
The underpad almost never is. We lift it, look at the backing and the slab underneath, and tell you honestly whether the carpet itself is worth refitting or whether you are better off starting again.
What does a finished basement floor run in this city?
Below-grade rooms in the Hamilton area generally land between $4 and $8 per square foot with carpet, underpad and labour together, before HST. A moisture barrier and subfloor prep are separate lines, and we confirm the figure once we measure.
Can carpet go over a floor drain or a sump pit?
It goes around them. A drain and a sump lid have to stay reachable, so we either cut and bind the carpet to the edge or fit a lift-out section over the opening rather than closing it in.
60mmRain in one hour, Aug 19 2005
1,700+Hamilton properties flooded that summer
109mmRain in two hours, Jul 26 2009
$4-$8/sq ftCarpet, underpad and installation below grade, before HST
13%Ontario HST, applied to both material and labour
Get your Hamilton basement measured
Tell us the room size and what the floor has been through, and we will price it properly.
