I am buying a house with a large empty basement with very minor leaks/cracks. I am having interior drainage tiles installed and cracks finished to insure I do not face any moisture problems before starting any investment in living space. I would like to install a fireplace in the basement. Is this something I should do before or after the waterproofing?? Any suggestions or things to watch out for? Any good websites? Thanks!

We have decided that we would like to carpet most of the basement in lieu of solid flooring. We are looking at fairly inexpensive berber type carpeting. What is the best type of padding to use and would putting poly on the concrete floor b/4 installation to reduce dampness moisture be a good or bad idea? The floor originally had a rubber backed carpet that was adhered to the floor with a mastic adhesive. There is a section where the utility room is that I would like to use floor tiles. I scraped up all of the rubber backing that remained and wonder if I can just tile over the old adhesive residue that won't come off.