Flooring for converted cellar advice?

[MacLaverty]

Have been in a house 3 years and previous owners have converted the 100 year old cellar into an office in 2020. They have laid sheet DPM down, underlay and then carpet over the top. However, the DPM does not go up to the walls and there is a few inch gap all the way round where the installers have glued down carpet grippers direct to the concrete subfloor. However, every now and then the carpet grippers succumb to mold and rot as guess the sub floor will get damp occasionally and had 2 x what I suspect to be a very small dry rot outbreak starting on these wooden carpet grippers over the last 3 years. Took the carpet grippers out, cleaned the area etc and the rot has never returned in these instances.

But, I'm now looking to replace the carpet to alleviate these issues full time. What is a good basement flooring? Thinking liquid DPM and vinyl sheet or vinyl plank but unsure if liquid DPM may push dampness into the walls?

Or would I be best relaying the DPM so it goes to the walls and then re-glue the carpet grippers on the DPM so they aren't sat directly on the concrete?

 

[Mrs Ten Names]

I would consider a breathable floor.
There's a good discussion here:

Breathability of floors

Hi there, I'm a new poster — and not located in the UK. I hope you can overlook that. My 19th-century home is located in Lisbon, Portugal, but there are few countries that do renovation as well as the UK. Certainly in Portugal there is little expertise or knowledge in this realm. I'll cut to...

www.periodproperty.co.uk