I just sold my pool table so I am now able to set up my long arm machine and frame, but my floor looks terrible. My sewing room is my basement, it has a painted cement floor which was ruined from some water that leaked from our furnace during the ice storm. Now the paint has come up from the floor and looks terrible. I am trying to decide if I should repaint the floor, put down indoor/outdoor rug, or put vinyl tile down. If I repaint the floor, I will have to scrape the paint off, same with laying down vinyl tile. If I put down carpet do I have to put down a subfloor first? Oh such dilemma's. Don't know what to do? Do any of you have a concrete floor and if so, what do you have on it? What would you do in my situation? Just curious. Can't wait to fix my floor so I can start machine quilting.

We have a concrete floor. It was built as an auto shop for my dad and we remodeled it into an apartment. If your floor is not chipped or have cracks you could put down press on tiles. This is what I have. I want to change it because the floor is cold in winter but since my DH is in a wheelchair I can't use carpet. It is too hard for him and I don't want it because I have grandkids who like to paint and I don't want the mess.
But you might consider the carpet. No you don't have to lay a subflooring unless you want to level your floor. I and my DH come from families that are in construction and we have been debating this question for over a year now.
I want to lay hardwood flooring which means I would need a subfloor to even out our floor. But it is too expensive for now.
The only concern you might watch for is condensation coming up through the concrete.

My sewing room is in my basement. I also have a pool table and want to get rid of it. I just went and bought carpet and laid it down. Its not attached just laid down. That way if I do have and water leak in the baement I can pull it up quick. Its not perfect but it works.
Judy in Ohio

I think a rug or carpet would be warmer on the feet during the cold months...just my 2 cents..LOL
Sharon

My basement floor is concrete, we have carpet with padding on two of the rooms, indoor outdoor on the exercise room and tile on the pool room. We haven't had any trouble with water on any of the floors since we built the house, soon be five years.

The only problem we had was when one of the guys covered up the end of the drain pipe when he bulldozed. Well, it just so happened that it rained for about a week, my son started down the steps and yelled at us to come quickly. We had about six inches of water covering the entire basement. We hadn't lived in the house very long, about three months. I called our contractor and they came down that night and uncovered the drain pipe. The water disappeared in a few minutes. They came back the next day and took up all of the carpet and pad. The pad had to be replaced luckly we were able to dry the carpet out and save it. The tile floor wasn't hurt. But we keep an eye on that drain pipe now.

I also have a sewing room in a finished basement. I chose a commercial grade Berber carpet which is very tightly woven. Padding will also give you added comfort if you are going to be standing on your feet for any period of time. Basement floors are just naturally cold and carpet will add the warmth you need if you live in an area that experiences cold temperatures in the winter.

Make your sewing area attractive and you will want to spend more time working on your projects.

June in Cincinnati

How about a nice heated floor? I would sew bare foot.

Maria

Check out the new way concrete is being done for floors. It's fantastic.


http://www.ourcoolhouse.com/images/c...tion/acidetch.


There are many flooring companies that do this. I've seen it in many of the newer homes and it's beautiful. Have you seen the bendable concrete?

My dream sewing room would have a bamboo floor.....

I saw on a home deco show, carpet tiles, they are really cool, you just, i think, peel off the backing and stick them down, then if one gets ruined, you can just replace the square. Just think, if you get different colours, you could create a quilt pattern on your floor with the carpet tiles :) And the show said you didnt need underlay with these.

We just laid indoor/outdoor carpeting on the floor. It's not that expensive and you don't have to do any prep work on the concrete.

Thank you everybody that responded to my dilemma. I am going to go to home depot tonight and see what they suggest. I would like to carpet it, but I am not sure how well my cutting table (5 feet long) will move around on the carpet. But then I want tile, because the cutting table would easily move around, and it is pretty easy to lay down. I know I am going to have to do some prep work to the floor because the paint is chipped in some areas. Errr, I wish the guy that we bought the house from prepared this floor the proper way. I wouldn't have this problem right now. But, he wanted a quick way to fix a problem so he could sell the house.

Anyways, thanks for all the suggestions.

The click type laminate can be installed on concrete. We can get it here for 99cents a square foot which is cheaper than vinyl or carpet.

Carpet is cosy but it smells after awhile when it is in a basement and it can't be swept.... a MUST for my messy sewing room!

I would think you could just put carpet tiles down. If the paint is stuck to the concrete, I don't see any reason to scrape anything. My sister got tiles from carpetbargains.com they have close out specials and such and she did her whole rec room (about 12x30) for about $700 if I remember correctly. She has very nice carpet and you really really have to look for seams. A couple area rugs (cover up the peeling areas!!) would work great also, and they're easy to take up if you have water problems.

Have you considered cork flooring? It comes in individual squares and is easy to install. All you need to put down over concrete is moisture barrier paper. We have cork flooring in our home gym in our basement. It is very easy to keep up, was not expensive and best of all, it is a renewable resource, so good for the environment too.

I am putting laminent in my new sewing room. It is in the basement and on cement. It softens up the floor a bit and it looks so nice. No glue down.

I have carpeting in my sewing room, I don't think it's a great choice, pins get "lost" in the carpeting..... threads are hard to vacuum.... my chair has to be on a plastic mat otherwise the wheels don't move freely.

If I had a cement floor, I would consider getting some of the wonderful cushioned rubber mats that are made for cashiers and others who stand alot in their jobs. (they're not cheap but you can get them in all different sizes) It really does help to "cushion" the strain on your back if you plan on doing much machine quilting.

Once you figure out the floor, don't forget to put down something to save your back when you are running the LA.

We have carpet under ours. Luckily, it's like an indoor/outdoor very low maintenance type carpet (the building is a former church - it might be an industrial grade). We are lucky in that we are not directly on cement. When we bought the machine, we were advised to get the puzzle piece mats and use carpet tape to attach them to a plastic floor runner. We found it not necessary, since we are not on concrete. It might be necessary for what you are going to be working on.

HTH! Shel

My sewing room is in the basement of my home. It has concrete floors with a THIN carpet (no padding) over it. It works, but in all honesty, if I were to do it over (I didn't do this one!) I would make sure to add padding. I tend to lay my quilts on the floor to sandwich them and with such a thin carpet over the concrete, I cannot pin my quilts to the floor and must instead use painters tape to hold the back and batting still while I baste the top to them. I've also noticed that while it does help some with keeping the room warmer, it doesn't do much. I think padding would help keep it warmer in the winter and reduce the need for me to run the gas fireplace; which really means saving money in the long run. More money to spend on fabric! :D

i sew in the basement on a concrete floor. yay! when we moved into this house there were carpet tiles, the ones that self-stick. i kept losing pins, i couldn't roll my la chair, and i was leaving a track between the door and the quilter. i couldn't rationalize taking it up, because it was so warm and sturdy. there was also a mildew-y smell that we couldn't find.

the washer overflowed and left a puddle that you cold row a boat in. after we shop-vacced the water out and took out all the wet carpet tiles to dry (they never did), the mildew smell was gone forever. i forgot how damp basements are and how carpets retain odors. as for the tiles, before they could dry on the deck, it would rain again. because they have heavy rubber backs drying takes forever. if they didn't stink we would have used them in the garage (the cars never get in there - no room LOL). i think the concrete floor in my basement would always have been too damp for carpet. my dh used a sanding machine, did the best he could and we painted the floor. no smells, easy to sweep, easy to roll the chair, and no lost pins. i wear warm socks and rubber-soled shoes. in the summer it's nice and cool.

We just put down some laminate flooringing from Konotex (Lowe's) and it looks like tile. It rated really high on consumer reports, is really easy to install, it adds a layer of warmth and is comfortable to walk on. I have laminate in my sewing room and would not use carpet because of errand pins - plus allllllll those strings. Oh my.

More good information to store away for when it is needed! Thanks! :lol:

Have you thought about putting down rubber "jig saw" tiles that interlock ? supposedly they are good under a longarm and frame. They keep down noise and vibration. They are super easy to keep clean, you can damp mop if you want. They're comfortable to walk on, and they also insulate a little. If you do have a water leak, they are easy to take up and dry out. They don't absorb much water. If one gets damaged you can just replace it. They are 2'x2' squares and they cover a large area quickly. The Depot stocks them usually, depending on the size of the store, but if they don't stock them they can special order them. They also stock or can order different colors and designs, you can make a really neat floor. They also have another product designed for garage floors that works on the same principle, that is a harder composition, that is nice. If we didn't already have carpet in the room our longarm and frame is going in, it's the way I would go.

we have carpet tiles in our basment game room area. and when the dog yakked on a tile I just pulled it up and repalced.. made it alot easier.

cookn, good to mention the jigsaw rubber floor squares. We have those on the other side of the basement where its like a home gym area they are great on the floor and your feet, easy to clean AND if they get wet its no big deal.

Why not put your pool table to use as a wonderful cutting table/sewing table? Just a thought. GiGi :D :D :D :D :D

I do have puzzle pieces already on my floor. I used them around the pool table, prior to selling it. I will be using them once my room is complete, around my long arm, feels good on the feet. I did use my pool table as a cutting table, as a table to lay out and pin my quilts. But, that is now gone, on to better things.

I went to home depot and found that my solution is an easy one. To eliminate a lot of time and hard work, we chose to go with a product called Traffic Master Allure. It is a floating resilient plank flooring. It does not adhere to the existing floor, it adheres to itself. It is flexible and easy to cut and install. Looks just like a wood floor. It is going to be a little pricey but well worth it. I don't have to scrape the old paint off. Vinyl tiles won't work too well on the cement according to the lady at home depot. And carpet wasn't my first choice.

So thanks for all your suggestions. I am now psyched again to work on this room and get it done. The floor should be done by this weekend, I hope. :mrgreen:

i was going to say the rubber puzzle floor pieces.

i have them in my gym and i love them. its easy to clean and easy on the body/feet.

i have carpeting in my sewing room and i hate it for all the same reasons listed - pins are hard to find, thread is every where and its so hard to get up, rolling around the work space is a challenge. it was already in the room when we moved here - so i had no choice.

if i were to start over i'd go for the rubber floor puzzle pieces for sure - you can get them at walmart real cheap.

When you install your floating floor, do yourself a favor, install it over the foam underlayment. It will add a bit more expense to the floor but it adds a bunch to the package. It cushions, insulates, protects, and extends the life of the floor. I worked in and around Home Depots for almost 15 years and laid many floors in kitchen displays and flooring displays. The Depot has changed many things and one is the knowledge base of it's associates. If they flooring associate didn't recommend the foam underlayment, they should have for all the above reasons. I would also put a barrier of thin vinyl (like a painters drop cloth) between your rubber flooring and the laminate. Just something to stop contact of the neoprene of the top flooring and the laminate, sometimes they get real friendly and can't be separated without leaving little chunks of rubber stuck to the laminate. You can trim it after you put the flooring on it and it won't move but it sure protects your laminate.

I have my machine in the "dungon" also. I have wheels on it so I can move it forward and back when I want to work on the back side of the machine. Because of my small space (12' table in a 12' 6" X 10' room) I would not be able to use pantographs if I had carpeting. Just something to keep in mind if you will need to move your machine for any reason.

The associate did not mention the foam overlayment. Is this kind of like the foam that you put under a carpet? Also, what is the vinyl barrier you mentioned? I am not sure what you mean by that. You also said to put that between my "rubber floor and the laminate". Is that the same thing as the foam and floating floor? Does any of this attach to the floor itself?

I guess I will have to ask these questions tomorrow when I pick up the flooring. Thanks for the warning and the advice. I hope you can respond to this before I buy the flooring tomorrow.

Here's my 2 cents worth, stick on tile doesn't take long to put down, easy to fix if you have another leak. put a large piece of bound carpet where you are going to be working which will make it easy on your feet and back, and you can move it around.
okie3

It's a very thin foam that comes on a roll. It's approximately an 1/8 inch thick and about 36 inches wide. It cushions the floor and separates the flooring from the slab and keeps the concrete from wearing the reverse side of the flooring. Since it is foam it also makes the laminate seem a bit softer to walk on and work on. Carpet pad would not work because it would move way too much and it's too thick. Pergo was the first to use the concept, and that is where the moniker of "a floating floor" came from. Because you glued the tongues of Pergo and never nailed it, you laid the floor on the foam padding and it "floated" above the subfloor or slab.

Several of my friends have these in front of their cutting and ironing stations in their quilt room. They swear it helps with any back strain, especially when doing a LOT of cutting and/or ironing. They've been so thrilled with how much it helps that many of the rest of us are considering getting them as well. Anything to help cut down on back strain is most welcome!

We have these in our exercise room. They were a lot less expensive purchased from an exercise store (I think it was 2nd Wind) than from our local big box home improvement store. They are really easy on the feet/back/legs yet seem able to handle the heavy equipment just fine. They did outgas heavily the first couple of weeks they were in; had to keep the room aired. The only thing that might not work for a sewing area is that the only color (for ours, anyway) was black with speckles in it. This could be dark in a basement. Works for us because we have a lot of South light coming into our exercise room.

My brother has laminate flooring. It's older, so maybe they have improved on it, but the one thing I don't like about it is that it is so noisy when you walk on it with shoes.

My sewing room/craft room/ everything room was my girls' bedroom, thus the carpet. I can't wait to rip it out. It's comfortable to walk on, but lint, dropped pins, etc. are a problem. I'm already not a Ms. Clean, so having that carpet out of there would suit me just fine.

I finished my floor :D What a big difference in there now. I ended up using Traffic Master Allure-Resilient flexible floating floor planks. They were so easy to use and lay down. I also like them because they are waterproof. I did my whole room myself. Took about a total of 24 hours to do myself (my room 480 sq ft, 20x24). It looks just like a real wood floor. Now, I just have to put the rest of the room together. I am still waiting for my cutting table to be built, I have a shelf and book case on order too. Can't wait to get these pieces in so that I can set up my long arm. Woohooo. :mrgreen: Here are a couple of pics, before and after.

You did a great job!! I'm just starting on our "Studio" this week. I'll do my least favorite thing over the weekend, painting, shoot me now. Next week I'll start on all the custom cabinets and built ins. We should pick up our longarm next week. It's gonna be great when I get it all tied together.

Our basement is also a "dungeon" - but after painting the walls pink, it is less awful.

We put in commercial grade carpeting about 20 years ago. It was a remnant, and it looks like the stuff that's used in hotel lobbies.

It has held up awesomely. Cat barf comes out of it easily.

It has no padding. I'd say the pile is about 1/4 to 3/8 inches high.

Much nicer to be on than bare concrete. Our floor was poured in sections and is uneven. Carpet is just laid down. It doesn't seem to curl up on the edges.

Your new floor looks beautiful!! Great job on getting it installed