floor suggestions?

scottycoyote

scottycoyote

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
im trying to finish up my basement poolroom and holy crap, decisions decisions decisions. Im on about my last one, the floor. Its concrete right now. Ive looked at tile, acid etch, carpet, and laminate. Just wondering who has done what. It breaks down like this

acid etch.......about 2k
tile.........about 2k
carpet about 1k
laminate about 1200 if i do it my self
laminate about 2k if installed

has anyone put in the laminate themselves? Im leaning that way, every dollar i save on the floor i can spend somewhere else. Anybody tried anything other than whats mentioned? cost and how you like it?
 
scottycoyote said:
im trying to finish up my basement poolroom and holy crap, decisions decisions decisions. Im on about my last one, the floor. Its concrete right now. Ive looked at tile, acid etch, carpet, and laminate. Just wondering who has done what. It breaks down like this

acid etch.......about 2k
tile.........about 2k
carpet about 1k
laminate about 1200 if i do it my self
laminate about 2k if installed

has anyone put in the laminate themselves? Im leaning that way, every dollar i save on the floor i can spend somewhere else. Anybody tried anything other than whats mentioned? cost and how you like it?
Click to expand...
I have done the laminate myself. It was very easy. My buddy and I did my living room in about 45 minutes. The room is about 21 x 20 or so. There are a couple ways to do it though. If you want to know more about how I did it let me know. If the room you are doing is just an open room it should be no problem at all. Good luck!

BVal
 
I most prefer to play on carpet. When tile gets wet or humid, I feel like I'm going to fall over sometimes, even though I have balance like a cat!
 
Consider this: concrete and tile (ceramic, porcelin), may break or chip when hit by balls that will inevitably be knocked off of the table during play. Also, some will crack if glasses or other hard objects are dropped on them. I would probably favor a vinyl tile or or sheet vinyl. These are both durable and come in a wide variety of styles.

Carpet is nice as well, but harder to clean if drinks or food are spilled.

BTW: I have remodeled my house, and your 2K estimate of the cost of acid stained concrete appear to be off. I did about 1600 sq.ft. in three different colors, and scored the floors. The three stains, blades to etch the floors, straight edge used for scoring, applicators for finish, and sprayers combined cost less than $650, and I have stain left over. Also, personal preference, we like the cola and coffee colors the best. They came out better than the tan.
 
cuenut said:
Consider this: concrete and tile (ceramic, porcelin), may break or chip when hit by balls that will inevitably be knocked off of the table during play. Also, some will crack if glasses or other hard objects are dropped on them. I would probably favor a vinyl tile or or sheet vinyl. These are both durable and come in a wide variety of styles.

Carpet is nice as well, but harder to clean if drinks or food are spilled.

BTW: I have remodeled my house, and your 2K estimate of the cost of acid stained concrete appear to be off. I did about 1600 sq.ft. in three different colors, and scored the floors. The three stains, blades to etch the floors, straight edge used for scoring, applicators for finish, and sprayers combined cost less than $650, and I have stain left over. Also, personal preference, we like the cola and coffee colors the best. They came out better than the tan.
Click to expand...

well the acid etch was paying someone to do it......the room is 16x26......the charge was 1600 then $4 per linear foot to score it to look like grout lines, so it got to 2k pretty quick.
 
Mine is done in bamboo, place and click, that I bought from Lumber Liquidators at about $2.50 a square foot. You can do it yourself if you're a decent DIYer. Easy on the feet, good looking, good for the environment.

Brian in VA
 
My opinion

If the basement is waterproof like mine is I would most recommend the carpet. Get an industrial grade carpet with a thick foam padding for underneath. The carpet will take the wear and with the nice padding below your back and legs will thank you if you ever have long practice or playing sessions. There are a lot of nice looking patterns and colors to the industrial grade carpet these days as well. In addition the carpet will act as a bit of a sound dampener and is nicer underfoot if you like to practice or play barefoot.
 
Kevin Lindstrom said:
If the basement is waterproof like mine is I would most recommend the carpet. Get an industrial grade carpet with a thick foam padding for underneath. The carpet will take the wear and with the nice padding below your back and legs will thank you if you ever have long practice or playing sessions. There are a lot of nice looking patterns and colors to the industrial grade carpet these days as well. In addition the carpet will act as a bit of a sound dampener and is nicer underfoot if you like to practice or play barefoot.
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x2



Also, think about leaving an area under the table that has a harder flooring surface, if you don't want the hassle of possibly having to re-level your table after it settles on the carpet and padding (but that would only happen once).


SDF
 
I like Berber carpet with a nice thick spill proof pad. This carpet will last the longest and take a high amount of traffic. It is also great for anyone that might spill something on it. (MMMM pool and beer, maybe a spill waiting to happen?) When I build my house the pool room will have high quality Berber in it.

I agree with everyone else about the tile cracking or chipping from pool balls, it is also hard on your back after standing on it for hours on end.

Laminate is ok, but again you don't have a carpet pad, and it is hard on the back.

Wood flooring will dent with the right pool ball hitting it, and again it is harder on the back.

Just my 2 cents!
 
scottycoyote said:
well the acid etch was paying someone to do it......the room is 16x26......the charge was 1600 then $4 per linear foot to score it to look like grout lines, so it got to 2k pretty quick.
Click to expand...

Now I know what to do to earn some part time money!
 
My choice was (and still is) carpet with a good pad.

I have installed laminate flooring a few times and it is easy to do. There are a couple of things to consider with laminate.
1. Since you are putting this in a basement with a concrete floor, you need to put down a vapor barrier and a pad under the laminate. This will add roughly $1 - $1.50 per square foot (rough guess).

2. The second thing to consider is that laminate floors are installed to be a floating floor system. This is why you must leave 1/4" expansion gaps around the perimeter of the room. My concern is how well a floating system will work with over a ton of weight pinned down to 4 small points will affect the floors ability to expand and contract.

I don't know if the weight of the table will adversely affect the floor, but it is something to think about.
 
txplshrk said:
I like Berber carpet with a nice thick spill proof pad. This carpet will last the longest and take a high amount of traffic. It is also great for anyone that might spill something on it. (MMMM pool and beer, maybe a spill waiting to happen?) When I build my house the pool room will have high quality Berber in it.

I agree with everyone else about the tile cracking or chipping from pool balls, it is also hard on your back after standing on it for hours on end.

Laminate is ok, but again you don't have a carpet pad, and it is hard on the back.

Wood flooring will dent with the right pool ball hitting it, and again it is harder on the back.

Just my 2 cents!
Click to expand...

Did you have any problem with Berber and a pad? As far as seeing the seams where two pieces meet? My general contractor is trying to tell me a visible seam is unavoidable.

Russ
 
PeteW said:
My choice was (and still is) carpet with a good pad.

I have installed laminate flooring a few times and it is easy to do. There are a couple of things to consider with laminate.
1. Since you are putting this in a basement with a concrete floor, you need to put down a vapor barrier and a pad under the laminate. This will add roughly $1 - $1.50 per square foot (rough guess).

2. The second thing to consider is that laminate floors are installed to be a floating floor system. This is why you must leave 1/4" expansion gaps around the perimeter of the room. My concern is how well a floating system will work with over a ton of weight pinned down to 4 small points will affect the floors ability to expand and contract.

I don't know if the weight of the table will adversely affect the floor, but it is something to think about.
Click to expand...
I have the laminate floors under my 9 foot charles anthony pool table and have had no problems at all. I am sure the environment has something to do with how much it expands and contracts though. I am in Arizona - pretty dry all the time and the inside of the house is almost the same tempature year round. Either way - have had no problems. JMO

BVal
 
Laminate is pretty easy to do if you are handy with a tape measure and a saw. I did my kitchen last year. No problems at all.

However, for a basement pool room I went with a pad cheap carpet. Much easier on my feet and legs.

Carpet is also much quieter. I am not an expert in this area, but it seems to me that a hard floor echoes much more while the carpeting seems to dampen sound. When I am trying to practice in the middle of the night that last thing I want is the sound to wake up the whole house.
 
I guess it all depends on how old you are and how well your body can handle the stresses that us old folks can't deal with.

In my basement I had an old heavy pile carpet under my table for a long time. My son-in-law wanted to spruce up the basement and asked if he could replace the carpet. Sure .... :) Well, he purchased a commercial grade low pile carpet without padding. I COULDN'T EVEN PLAY ON IT! Oh my God, my knees and feet were killing me. I had to take it all up and put a good heavy padding under it.

How anyone could play on a hard floor without carpet is beyond me. Ahhh, to be young again. :)
 
Russ Chewning said:
Did you have any problem with Berber and a pad? As far as seeing the seams where two pieces meet? My general contractor is trying to tell me a visible seam is unavoidable.

Russ
Click to expand...

When I had it installed in my old house in NC there were no seams..........it was a high grade Berber, with stain resistance coating. It looked absolutely beautiful.

If it is done right there won't be any seams.
 
Berber pulls and can self destruct if you don't get "specifically" the type that is not line woven. Thats something to be aware of if you look into berber.
 
I can my seams

Russ Chewning said:
Did you have any problem with Berber and a pad? As far as seeing the seams where two pieces meet? My general contractor is trying to tell me a visible seam is unavoidable.

Russ
Click to expand...

I have a good berber carpet with an extra thick pad. It is easy on the feet and back. It wears great. But I can see the seams. They are not an eyesore but I know where they are. I think it is worth it for the wear and comfort.
 
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