Basement flooring

[GuitarStv]

Hi All  . . .  I'm in the process of finishing a section of my basement, and am looking at different options for flooring and subfloor.  I was wondering if anyone had any ideas.

The finished basement area will be a large multi-purpose free-weight / workout / guitar playing / home office kinda place ideally.  I was originally planning on levelling the unfinished concrete, then putting down dri-core ( http://www.dricore.com/en/index.aspx ) subfloor, and some kind of hard wearing laminate over top of that.  Does this make sense for my uses?  Anyone have ideas for a cheaper (equally effective) way to finish the basement?

[crk]

Based upon what you are using it for, I suggest you look into either stain and etching the bare concrete or putting down rubber flooring. Unless you are putting carpeting or engineered wood or something that is susceptible to water damage I don't know why you would want to incur the expense of something like DRIcore.

[Norman Johnson]

They also make a laminate-like flooring that is totally vinyl. It's meant for kitchens/baths and wet places. We installed it throughout our house and it was super easy. Score, snap, install. All you need is a straight edge and knife.

It is susceptible to puncture wounds though.

[GuitarStv]

Based upon what you are using it for, I suggest you look into either stain and etching the bare concrete or putting down rubber flooring. Unless you are putting carpeting or engineered wood or something that is susceptible to water damage I don't know why you would want to incur the expense of something like DRIcore.

Our basement is totally dry, but the floor gets very cold on bare feet.  We have somewhat lower ceilings in the basement too, which is why I'm not trying something like plywood over XPS.  Aesthetically, the wife and I both much prefer the look of laminate to rubber too . . . and I think it would translate into a better resale price for the house eventually.

Do you know of any other ways to get some low height insulation over concrete slab?  My main concerns with Dri-core are that it could deform from the weights, or that it would make clicking noise when I'm bouncing around using my heavy bag.  Although our basement has always been dry, I like the idea that it would be able to survive some moisture should something ever happen down the road.

[jba302]

Get stall mats from a tractor supply or home depot for the gym part. It's extremely cheap and will protect your concrete from chipping should you drop a plate poorly, and should handle the stress of big moves without flexing under your feet. Plus you can move them easily for resale.

[GuitarStv]

I've been thinking about these rubber mats, and have decided that a mix of dri-core with rubber matting in the exercise area seems like the best way to do things.  One concern that I have about these mats though, is off gassing.  Does anyone know how long it takes before the strong rubber smell that tends to come with these kinds of things fades away?  Could I store the mats in my garage for a few weeks and then put them in the house?  Also, is 3/4 inch thick enough to protect the floors from impact (just concerned if I drop a heavy deadlift or something)?

[Bearblastbeats]

There is a product called Kenecto that is a 6 inch wide and 1/8 inch thick and about 3-4 ft long that is a vinyl flooring with adhering tongue and groove flaps. The product looks like hardwood flooring but reduces sound echo as opposed to  real hardwoord flooring. It also provides cushion while walking on it or playing or ruling on a computer chair. Easy maintenance and water proof. Scratch resistant as well if you have animals.

It also is what you would call a "floating" floor. So you can install it right over concrete with no sub-floor. Simply just sweep and vacuum the concrete, and it wouldn't hurt to take a damp sponge to pick up the rest of the debris while installing.

[PGH]

We used a product purchased at Home Depot. It comes in large "tiles" and has a plywood top and a channeled rubbery bottom. It was very easy to install. We chose it because our basement is currently dry, but one never knows. Also, when you walk on it, it feels like you're walking on real floor. In different areas of the basement, we covered it with vinyl, hardwood and carpet or just left it plain. All are great and there's absolutely no musty basement smell. I'm sorry I don't recall the name of it, but we've seen it at all the Home Depots.

[jba302]

I've been thinking about these rubber mats, and have decided that a mix of dri-core with rubber matting in the exercise area seems like the best way to do things.  One concern that I have about these mats though, is off gassing.  Does anyone know how long it takes before the strong rubber smell that tends to come with these kinds of things fades away?  Could I store the mats in my garage for a few weeks and then put them in the house?  Also, is 3/4 inch thick enough to protect the floors from impact (just concerned if I drop a heavy deadlift or something)?

Yea it off-gasses over time, not sure how long. It would be thick enough depending on where your line of "heavy" is drawn. If you are a big deadlifter I would put a sheet of plywood under the mats. If you are a big squatter / oly lifter I would also suggest a hard wood center and mat-over-plywood sides. You want 0 compression under your feet for big dynamic work.

[Saving mom]

I have a 700sf shed in our backyard and it has a sloping concrete floor. We were thinking about leaving it concrete for now and getting a large rug for the "man cave" portion. However a section will be my office and I am thinking it will be annoying to have my chair keep rolling away from my desk. Could I level just a portion and put laminate floors down? Any suggestions for how to build up and level the floor? We aren't handy and are hiring out the bigger work but don't want to waste 1500-2000 on floors when the project may not add value to our house.

Follow on question. It has a wall A/C that is old but works but only cools/heats 1/2 the shed. Instead of replacing with larger unit, I am thinking of adding a second a/c through the window on the other end of the shed that has 7,000 BTU of cooling power. Would that work? Can you add BTU together to get to the cooling power needed for the space?

[GuitarStv]

I have a 700sf shed in our backyard and it has a sloping concrete floor. We were thinking about leaving it concrete for now and getting a large rug for the "man cave" portion. However a section will be my office and I am thinking it will be annoying to have my chair keep rolling away from my desk. Could I level just a portion and put laminate floors down? Any suggestions for how to build up and level the floor? We aren't handy and are hiring out the bigger work but don't want to waste 1500-2000 on floors when the project may not add value to our house.

Follow on question. It has a wall A/C that is old but works but only cools/heats 1/2 the shed. Instead of replacing with larger unit, I am thinking of adding a second a/c through the window on the other end of the shed that has 7,000 BTU of cooling power. Would that work? Can you add BTU together to get to the cooling power needed for the space?

If you can spare a little height (2-3 inches), I would put in a subfloor in the section that you want laminate.  You lay strips of PT wood across the floor, use shims to make them absolutely level then fill the gaps between the wood with rigid XPS insulation.  Finally you put plywood over top and you've got a level, insulated floor.

You can add a second A/C to cool your building better . . . but in my experience the smaller A/C units are less efficient than the larger ones, so it might end up costing you more in the long run.  The insulation that you have in the shed will also make a drastic difference in how much you need to run your A/C.

[DK]

I've got a home gym setup, and all I use is the rubber stall mats. They work well and the smell goes away fairly quickly. I just expanded with a couple more and if I remember right, within the month most of the smell was gone.

I've also wondered about doing something with the floor. Even if you get 1in foamboard that will help. I had some leftover 2in from a project and going from standing on the slab floor to standing on that you can feel your feet get warm. I had some small piece of maybe 1/4 in from who knows where, and even that made a good difference in between the bare slab, or bare slab with carpet over it.