Carpet Tile in a Basement – DIY Friendly?

Q: I am finishing my basement and naturally need to cover concrete floors. I want to be economical but also have a great-looking floor, so I am considering carpet tiles.
1) in your opinion is this a good choice for the application?
2) are flooring tiles DIY? How do I adhere?
3) need I use a pad or barrier of any type?
4) I see Milliken tiles on your site, do you also have a more commercial look (tight loop with a subtle pattern) available?
Thanks!
David Krohto
A: Carpet is a good choice for a basement, especially if you want something that is warm under foot. Depending on the tile, the installation can be fairly easy. Milliken’s Tesserae is very easy to install as it comes with a pre-attached pad and a self-adhesive back (Milliken’s TractionBack) makes this very easy to install, just make sure your subfloor is clean and layout the tiles as you wish.
The Tesserae has been very popular and is rather well built. The pile and loop is fairly nice and its relatively dense. Some of the color patterns are a bit more subtle. I went out to the sample area to take a look at what we had and colors like Denim have a subtle tone set and give you a good idea of its construction.
Overall, I think a carpet tile like Milliken would be a great choice for a nice and easy installation in your basement that will be warm and should something happen, you can replace a tile with a new one to keep a nice clean look.