Flooring on basement concrete slab that lets moisture vapour through
Hey y'all. I'm based in Revelstoke bc, we are zone 6 on the bc building code. Our climate is an interior rain forest, so it can be very wet at times, but has been very dry in recent months.
I am currently renovating my basement which is a house from 1956 built without vapour barrier or proper drainage around the house. We have installed gutters around the whole house in the last year to help mitigate moisture issue.
When I tore down the one room that was finished in our basement, I removed vinyl planks that were installed directly on the concrete for the past 5 years. The slab was quite wet with water almost pooling in areas. I have also noticed that any plastic/fabric items left directly on the slab would make the concrete color darken/mold up over time. There are no cracks letting water in at all. It seems to be just moisture coming through the slab. I also installed a sump pump for the bathroom I am setting up and noticed that my slab is only 2"-4" thick, which explains the issue to me.
Now I am wanting to install flooring (Choosing between LVP, Laminate, Engineered wood floor, and going with tiles in our bathroom).
I have done quite a bit of research and the best product I seem to be finding is a dimple mat as an underlay and laying my flooring above. I have my eyes on DMX 1- Step 2.0 as it is rated for vinyl planks and has a low profile (My ceiling is low enough as it is). I would like to see if anyone has a different opinion on the product I should use or any experience using the same product or something similar? I have also looked into different sealant, but I have less faith in these as I feel like water pressure overtime would probably have the last word.
That being said, for my bathroom where I want to tile. I will most likely need a sealant. I see redguard by Custom seems to be a good quality product for a decent price. Any thoughts on this solution as well?
I know that my ideal solution would be to prohibit moisture from getting under the slab, but this is a very costly and invasive solution.
Thanks for your time,
Seb