Flooring (1 Viewer)

[Opie]

We have decided to change the floor in our theater room.

Currently it is carpeted and I cannot stand it and I want to go to some sort of "wood look" flooring.

We have pretty much decided on porcelain but now are looking for the best place to buy.  Ask ten people and you'll get ten different answers.  You just about have to buy it locally.  The shipping charges on 750 sq ft is almost half the cost of the tile if purchased over the internet.

More than one person has suggested Lumber Liquidators.  Does anyone have any experience with them? 

 

[Binky The Doormat]

question 1)   do you enjoy echo chambers?

 

[Opie]

Do you mean the sound reverberating from the hard floor?

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I've heard nothing good about Lumber Liquidators.  We were told to avoid them.

And Binky is right- you'll be listening to movies in a bathroom.  Laminate might be better, but I'd go to a specialty theater store to find out the things that work best.

 

[Opie]

I've heard nothing good about Lumber Liquidators.  We were told to avoid them.

And Binky is right- you'll be listening to movies in a bathroom.  Laminate might be better, but I'd go to a specialty theater store to find out the things that work best.

Yeah...we're a little worried about the sound but we're hoping that the size of the room and the sound-proofed walls help to recify that.

 We've ruled out real wood and there is no way we'd get laminate.

We have two dogs who are in there a lot.  The Golden Retriever is no problem, he just lays around but we also have a Belgian Malinois who has put many scratches in the finish of our hardwood in another room.  That floor will be replaced or refinished soon.  The Malinois would absolutely destroy any laminate.  He's pretty "high energy"....and BIG!

If it is going to be a "hard" floor, it has to be either real stone (too expensive), ceramic, or porcelain.

Thank you for the input about Lumber Liquidators....I've heard good and bad and I'll take your advice on the theater pros.

If they suggest something else, maybe I'll replace the scratched hardwood floor with porcelain.  It's just a living room....no electronics and smaller!

 

[Opie]

Flooring in Theater Room

 

[tommyboy]

We have decided to change the floor in our theater room.

Currently it is carpeted and I cannot stand it and I want to go to some sort of "wood look" flooring.

We have pretty much decided on porcelain but now are looking for the best place to buy.  Ask ten people and you'll get ten different answers.  You just about have to buy it locally.  The shipping charges on 750 sq ft is almost half the cost of the tile if purchased over the internet.

More than one person has suggested Lumber Liquidators.  Does anyone have any experience with them? 

Either go with carpet or actual hardwood flooring. A theater room needs absorbing materials rather than hard, reflecting materials to sound it's best. Porcelain, concrete etc will make for bad acoustics

 

[Opie]

Either go with carpet or actual hardwood flooring. A theater room needs absorbing materials rather than hard, reflecting materials to sound it's best. Porcelain, concrete etc will make for bad acoustics

You guys are right....we'll recarpet in the Theater Room and replace wood flooring in Living Room with Porcelain.

thanks for the responses.

Now...anyone know where to buy wood-look porcelain tile? 

 

[tommyboy]

You can get an industrial quality short nap carpet and then pay a bit extra for thick underpad. It will feel good under foot and be durable

 

[jvdesigns2002]

Floor & Decor is pretty solid.  

 

[El Floppo]

Go with cork. More acoustically neutral than wood, and softer under foot. Neither as much as carpet, but if you're tired of carpet...

 

[Punxsutawney Phil]

I had the wood looking tile in a bathroom.  I put it down about 10yrs ago, when it was still a newer style.   Now you can find similar tile just about anywhere.  I would go to a big box store or Floor & Decor.

 

[DaVinci]

You could find out where This guy got his tile from.

 

[belljr]

You guys are right....we'll recarpet in the Theater Room and replace wood flooring in Living Room with Porcelain.

thanks for the responses.

Now...anyone know where to buy wood-look porcelain tile? 

Depends on the money you want to spend.

Lowe's has a decent selection and custom orders.

Or go to a tile shop

 

[Doctor Detroit]

I would just sell the house 

 

[stbugs]

You guys are right....we'll recarpet in the Theater Room and replace wood flooring in Living Room with Porcelain.

thanks for the responses.

Now...anyone know where to buy wood-look porcelain tile? 

Lowe's is where I got some really cool wood looking tile for my 3rd floor remodel that we just did. I didn't use it on the floor, instead a full wall back splash on a dry bar with a granite top and custom cabinets below. We also took the same wood tile and tiled the area behind the mounted TV in a big built in. The wood tile looks like wood because even in the same box, they vary the pieces quite a bit. People who saw the pictures thought it was wood and even people who came up to see it thought it was wood until you felt it. I was a bit skeptical until we put it up and realized my wife was right, it really does look good.

Nice part about Lowe's is that they sell the tile individually (box of 8 is basically 8 pieces) so I was able to return every full piece we didn't use, which was a good amount.

 

[Da Guru]

question 1)   do you enjoy echo chambers?

Carpet is the best choice for theatre-music.  The sound will bounce off wood or tile flooring.

 

[falguy]

What about vinyl? Most are "wood look,. Glue down or floating. Easy install. Not cold like porcelain. I'm not sure how bad it would be for acoustics but has to be better than tile i would think.

 

[Megaton]

Carpet is the best choice for theatre-music.  The sound will bounce off wood or tile flooring.

I tiled mine than put down an area rug over the top covering about 80 percent.  Not a big fan of putting carpet over basement slab just because it tends to get musty over time unless you have a super dry basement.  The echo is not bad.  

 

[Megaton]

What about vinyl? Most are "wood look,. Glue down or floating. Easy install. Not cold like porcelain. I'm not sure how bad it would be for acoustics but has to be better than tile i would think.

That might be the way to go.  There are some challenges when installing the wood planks porcelain tile.  First if the floor had been painted before, you will have to sand that off so the mortar will adhere to it.  Second, the wood planks are typically 6" x 24" which makes for some difficulty if the floor is not perfectly flat.  I had some small hills and valleys which caused some issues and I had to rework a dozen tiles afterwards.  Basically if you try to level the floor by filling in those valleys the mortar during the install, the mortar will not dry even after a few weeks and the tile will become loose.  You have to fill those areas prior to the install.  When the thicker layer of mortar is exposed to the air it will dry in a couple days and you can then install.  

 

[IC FBGCav]

We have decided to change the floor in our theater room.

Currently it is carpeted and I cannot stand it and I want to go to some sort of "wood look" flooring.

We have pretty much decided on porcelain but now are looking for the best place to buy.  Ask ten people and you'll get ten different answers.  You just about have to buy it locally.  The shipping charges on 750 sq ft is almost half the cost of the tile if purchased over the internet.

More than one person has suggested Lumber Liquidators.  Does anyone have any experience with them? 

I would google them.  I think their stuff got people sick not too long ago with stuff made in China.  I remember the stock crashed and a 60 minutes piece.

 

[IC FBGCav]

Nothing huge, just elevated cancer risk.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/02/22/lumber-liquidators-cancer-risk-cdc/80724770/

 

[El Floppo]

Go with cork. More acoustically neutral than wood, and softer under foot. Neither as much as carpet, but if you're tired of carpet...

I'll again throw this out there.

Wood and especially the porcelain version are poor for acoustics. Vinyl will be only slightly better.

Of course, you can also throw down area rug(s) over the top of whatever you choose. 

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Floor & Decor is pretty solid.  

What he said.  That place was amazing.  We just built a new shower, and our contractor took us there.  It's like Disneyland for flooring.

 

[belljr]

That might be the way to go.  There are some challenges when installing the wood planks porcelain tile.  First if the floor had been painted before, you will have to sand that off so the mortar will adhere to it.  Second, the wood planks are typically 6" x 24" which makes for some difficulty if the floor is not perfectly flat.  I had some small hills and valleys which caused some issues and I had to rework a dozen tiles afterwards.  Basically if you try to level the floor by filling in those valleys the mortar during the install, the mortar will not dry even after a few weeks and the tile will become loose.  You have to fill those areas prior to the install.  When the thicker layer of mortar is exposed to the air it will dry in a couple days and you can then install.  

Self leveler ftw