Ideas for flooring in gameroom

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jasonm
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Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by jasonm »

Alright, I'm moving on Dec 15h and planning out the new gameroom space. It's gonna be around 800 sq/ft, and the current space is completely unfinished. The plan for the ceiling is to spray it a flat black and drylok (maybe paint) the cinder block walls. If you've been to Tim F's, it'd be similar to his place.

What I keep going back and forth on is what to do with the floor. It's in good shape and plain concrete. I've been debating epoxy, blacklight carpet, "cheap" carpet, laminate; but also open to other options, whatever else there might be. Wanted to get some feedback from people and see what they think or other ideas. Also, if they had any leads or tips on any specific options.

I've called one company on epoxy and was given a quote of $5 sq/ft, so $4,000 total (ish). That could be any color and some cool finishes. But, I don't think that'd provide much warmth under feet if you don't have shoes on.

Carpet would be nice, but there is the worry if any water comes in (there hasn't been any history of this on the home in the past); that that'd ruin the carpet. "Cheap" options from Home Depot are around $2 sq/ft. If it's around that price, debating how much blacklight carpet would end up being. I know I'd have to order more than the 800 sq/ft to pattern match, and then pay someone to install. So that could get pricy.

Laminate is a nice option as well. Dave B's place has laminate, and it's really nice. I chatted with him at the last Ballers, and he's said it's held up well and was fairly easy to install once you got going.

I'll have about 35 arcades and 2 pins as well, right away going in after the basement is finished. There will be a lot of moving and rearranging of games, so something that holds up well would be great. Again, if you got ideas or recommendations on people who could epoxy/do carpet installs/anything, that'd be awesome.
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cad-kid
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by cad-kid »

Well first off, you can never have enough space :lol: A dark ceiling would be good for playing the games but could make it darker for working on the games (just a thought). Flooring - a tight weave carpet should allow dollies to roll easily when moving games. Remember that carpet could suck up summer time moisture and make it harder to keep the environment dry.

My setup is an unfinished basement with plenty of insulation in the rafters above (to keep my wife happy). I have cheap area rugs in front of the games - that really helps my feet from getting sore. Plus those rugs are easy to clean and when I go to move a game, I pull the rugs out and away I go.

These are just my opinions. Keep us posted on what you decide.
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by Hilton »

I have researched this extensively for a future game room build and can share my simple opinion based on visiting lots of different game rooms.

Carpet is essential for sound dampening and cushion under feat.

Problem is that carpet sucks moisture if it gets wet and carpet wears over time.

This has me settles on highquality carpet squares with a low pile (similar to what you see in a high traffis area in a store)
They are still carpet and help with sound dampening. They are easy to install, they are usually rubber backed so easy to pull up and dry if you get water, they are cost effective, they are easy to slide pins/vids around on, they are easy to replace the traffic areas or spots with spills when they happen. Hgh quality ones are also very durable.
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by MikeS »

I went through this same dilemma this Summer and researched things a bit. What prompted it is that we had a flash flood with over 6 inches of rain within a 2 hour period of time which resulted in water coming into the basement.-this is the first instance of water coming into the house that I knew about. It ended up being a vertical crack in the foundation wall which I have since had professionally repaired.

I agree with Hilton that professional carpet tiles are the best way to go for a dedicated gameroom. I know they make tiles for blacklight carpeting as well. In my case my gameroom isn't really dedicated. It's also my theater room and kid's playroom. And I also needed to replace carpet in 2 bedrooms which were adjoining in the basement. I couldn't get the wife's seal of approval on blacklight carpet and we also looked at professional squares at several carpet places and most of it is pretty ugly and sterile looking (looks like an office floor) which I think is fine in the case of a dedicated gameroom but probably not ideal for a kids bedroom/family room and I didn't feel like mixing and matching in my basement. It's also fairly pricey compared to regular carpet, although it should last longer. The cheaper (non professional) carpet squares really look like crap and I wouldn't recommend them.

In my last house I had laminate flooring in my basement and I didn't really like how cold it was underfoot. You also have to be wary of moisture with laminate. I also had one corner of my house where the laminate started buckling up in one of the corners. I prefer natural hardwoods over laminates or bamboo from my experiences if you are looking for something non-carpet.

In my case I ended up just finding a standard plush carpet that I liked on the clearance rack at Carpets Plus. Even with a quality pad it was still under $3/sq. foot installed and it looks great and feels nice under foot. It was a bit of a compromise on my part but I know it would have cost at least twice that to have carpet tiles professionally installed and I didn't really feel like doing the work myself.
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Chris K
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by Chris K »

Not a whole lot of ideas from me, but our decision went like this:

1) Our basement is multi-purpose; the game room is even a futon'ed guest bedroom
2) We have small kids and a cat, which means stains are likely over the next few years
3) Cold basement floor sucks
4) We might get rain damage, so the ability to "remove" flooring temporarily can prevent a replacement
5) We don't want to spend money on flooring. Flooring is boring.

We went with $2/sqft medium pile carpet and a $2/sqft floor insulation. I also put a computer-connected water sensor in the corner of the basement where the water could come in. If we get water I get an email warning and I peel the corner and soak it up. I've also berm'ed that corner of the house, which helped considerably.

Sometime within the next ten years the carpet will get gross or wear out, and then I'm out $4/sqft. In the mean time.... nice cushy carpet. My lift table handles it fine, and I don't give a crap if the tables leave divots in my crappy carpet (which they haven't yet).

The equation holds up well so long as rain damage a once-every-few-years event. Works for me, although I understand it might not for everyone.
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jasonm
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by jasonm »

Thanks for the input everyone, this really helps. I think the way the wife and I are leaning, is carpet. Whether that's a normal, full carpet install or squares; and short vs. medium weave; that's tbd.

The space will be a dedicated gameroom. I'm not overly worried about the black ceiling being too dark. Again, I've seen it done already (re: Tim F) and his basement is plenty bright. You can always add a spot light overhead if working on something.

I'm almost leaning towards the high quality carpet squares and only doing the space you'll actually walk around the games. That'd save a little money and wouldn't be tight on the walls, leaving a little "breathing room" if water / moisture ends up happening. I did see the blacklight carpet tiles, and I might pickup a couple of those. The wife really could care less what I do with this space, as I have to build her drum / music room on one side of the basement; so she's happy with getting that space.
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jasonm
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by jasonm »

Just email a place on blacklight carpet tiles. I could do the whole 800 square feet, I think, for $2,350. That's not bad at all. Compared to what a normal installed blacklight carpet would be. I might check if a normal colored carpet would be cheaper, and do a pattern around the walking area with blacklight; hopefully saving a bit more. I'm really leaning towards this route, as that's not a bad price.
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by Hilton »

please keep us posted on where you are ordering from and photos to share.
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by ralphwiggum »

If you go blacklight carpeting..... Find a local carpet place that can/does carry flagship carpeting. Flagship has THE best selection of blacklight carpeting. Often times, the local carpet place will get you a better deal then going with flagship directly.

Hit up flagship directly- http://www.flagshipcarpets.com/index.bl ... =3&sub=Flu and grab some samples.
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cad-kid
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by cad-kid »

Wow, that is one serious collection of black light carpet! 8-)
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jasonm
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by jasonm »

The people I contact was:
http://www.caldwellcarpet.com/black-lig ... t-tile.htm

I'll checkout the Flagship carpet as well, they have a lot of options and a couple ones I really like.
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by Fortytwo »

I went with stained concrete. To maintain I use commercial wax. This protects the floor and gives a professional floor.
It's expensive if you pay. And a lot of work. I acid stained and finished myself. 2000 square foot basement. Including work room.
Pros. Solder etc liquid cleanes up easily. No damage to floor. Easy to roll on. Does not qualify basement as finished for the tax man.
Cons. Cold and noisy-er.
I also have dogs and almost no other carpet in house.

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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by Fortytwo »

IMG_4228.JPG
A recent pic of the floor around a project.
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by epthegeek »

I put dricore floor tiles under the flooring in my basement. The whole thing. Adds a water barrier for the carpet, helps a LITTLE with temperature. Picked it up from menards and put it in myself.

http://dricore.com/nw/subfloor_about.php
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jasonm
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Re: Ideas for flooring in gameroom

Post by jasonm »

I've heavily considered the epoxy/acid stain route, as I love how it looks and it'd be great if any water happens. But I also really like carpet under your feet for some warmth and comfort.

Eric, we used dricore tiles at my parents place when we build my bedroom in the basement. I remember it being a bit of a pain to level, but once you got going not being too bad. I guess it's good to know it stands up to a bit of weight as well.
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