Cycotravlr

I have recently moved into a home with a large finished basement. My wonderful wife has given me the go-ahead to use half the basement for my new Build Room. I will be removing the burnt orange shag carpet and putting a new floor down. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what would be a good surface ie. tile; laminate wood; linoleum? I have to think about the possibilities of spilt glue and or paint. I am very open to any and all suggestions, advice, and experiences.


Thank you,

Perry

Avistarpilot

Is it an open basement or do you have an actual room to dedicate to building? Either way I'm a big fan of that epoxy "garage" floor coating, especially for basements if it's damp our would ever get wet.(sump pumps fail!) I'm pretty sure that would hold up to any spills you might have in the building process as well. Would be easy clean up too. Could do a portion of it for your build area and put in a transition strip if you wanted to install carpet/wood/laminate ect in the rest of the basement.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Why bother replacing the carpet. My last shop was a mobil home and I left the carpet in it. My new shop has a tile floor that I covered with linoleum and over time the linoleum has worn out where I usually sit and slide the computer chair. When it's time to sell or move then it's time to replace the carpet.

TomCrump

I would agree. I'd leave the carpet, as it should keep most of the gunk off of the floor.

My second choice would be to leave the floor bare. Anything placed on top off a bare floor will need replacement, sooner or later.

3136

1 I'm jealous you have a large basement
2 I'm jealous you have a wonderful wife that will let you use half of it.
3 I would just leave the carpet, that will catch sanding dust, far better than stirring it up with a smooth floor. When it gets really bad give it a vacuum..
If you drop some glue on it, who cares, you were going to throw it out anyway.
What's your next build?

LesUyeda

"I would agree. I'd leave the carpet, as it should keep most of the gunk off of the floor."

And gobble up every screw/nut that you happen to drop on it, especially if it happens to be a non standard one, that you cannot get locally:-((((((((((((((

Les

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Unlike my shop floor that allows the stuff to roll or slide to places unknown. A clean vacuum will locate any lost parts in a carpet.

TomCrump

Heck, I lose that stuff when it falls on my cement floor.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

When I was building sand rails I got tired of loosing anything that hit the concrete floor so I got the bright idea and painted the floor white except for the two feet surrounding it, that worked but things had the habit of rolling into that magic void of gray or into the corners where it somehow disappeared into the nether world where all your missing socks go after you do the laundry. I also learned to never walk on a smooth painted surface with wet shoes!!!

cubcrasher

My Feedback: (6)

I build in a spare bedroom. If we sell, that carpet has got to be replaced. Pretty
much destroyed now. If we have company she closes the door because she doesn't
want anyone to see it.

dbacque

My Feedback: (3)

My building room has 35 year old carpet in it. The carpet has glow fuel spills, epoxy and CA spills, countless screws and parts and more hiding in the pile. The fuel spills are a real problem because they create a very stubborn odor. I would love for the carpet to be gone and have a cheap linoleum floor or something that would be easier to clean. But I'm not sure a hard floor would make finding tiny parts any easier because they would bounce away.

So if you stay with the carpet, let me make a suggestion that makes finding the tiny screws and other metal items easy as pie. Get the biggest rare earth magnet you can find. Every time I drop a screw or small piece of music wire into the carpet, I reach for the big magnet on the side of my workbench, sweep it across the carpet and pick the part off the magnet.

Dave

cubcrasher

My Feedback: (6)

Good idea with the magnet there Dave. I wear reading glasses when I'm working on a plane but when
something hits the carpet I have to take them off to find it. Go figure.

jetmaven

Burt orange shag , how lucky can you get , I'm assuming its a decorating statement from an earlier time . ( only kidding ) . I build in the garage on the concrete floor . I scrape the dried glue off every now and then I'll blow out the dust with either my compressor or the leaf blower and then it's like new all over again .
I can't imagine looking for a 2/56 set screw in a shag rug . While magnets are great for retrieving steel items , not so good for brass or even most stainless not to even mention plastic parts .
What ever you decide on , have fun in your new shop !

HOT COALS

I BUILD IN TO PLACES. OLD CHICKEN COOP, WICH HAS ALL MY MACHINES, FOR CUTTING,SANDING, PAINTING. WELL INSULATED WITH A/C & HEAT. THE CHICKENS NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD. 2ND PLACE IN MY LIVING ROOM. FOR BUILDING. NO MISSES TO WORRY ABOUT JUST 7 DOG'S & 2 COYOTE's & 100 HEAD OF CATTLE. ....

HOT COALS

You can go to tractor supply, and get a horse matt. Very cheap.. Lay your work bench on top, something drops no worry about it bouncing,rolling.

Stmcan

My Feedback: (20)

Carpet will help keep feet warm when its cold. If you drop something use a shop vac with stocking taped to sucking end. Air will flow but pieces will stop. (If you can find a magnetic stocking then all the better)

airega1

My Feedback: (204)

Yea ok, leave the shag carpet and watch what happens next time you drop a servo screw, or drop some epoxy on it

willig10

I would get rid of the carpet and lay down either tile or laminate flooring with underlayment. I had the laminate in my RC build room. I spilled CA on the floor and it comes right up just by placing an exacto knife on an edge and flicking it upward. Works on epoxy as well. Also the laminate and tile is easier to clean up from sawdust etc.


My 2 cents

Glenn

dspeers

My Feedback: (22)

I have significant problems with arthritis in my feet, knees, ankles, hips so used something like this. http://www.rubberflooringinc.com/int...Fcpj7Aod2wMA5g Picked these up years ago at Sams or Home Depot, do not recall. Bought enough extra that I haven't needed to find them again as I have only had to replace a handful of tiles. Upshot is that you can actually find almost anything with a bright light on a black background and the interlocking seams are so tight, nothing can wedge into them. Also, damage can be replaced one tile at a time. Goes down very fast and eliminates that cold concrete feel as well as being very kind to my feet. Rebound distances on dropped small parts are also reduced compared to tile or concrete.

buzzard bait

That rubber flooring looks like a great idea for a shop.

toolmaker7341

Just a thought if you spill CA on your carpet you could glue your carpet to the floor. Use lamiate like was said earlier nothing sticks to it

Cycotravlr

Lots of good information here. I will soon be installing Laminate Wood flooring in my Dinning Room area. Depending on how expensive and how tough that stuff is to install, I will use either Laminate wood ore tile in the New Build Room. Thanks for all the comments. Keep them coming. It will be at least 2 months before I start the floor for that area and the comments are interesting to say the least.

Perry

Tango Juliet

I prefer a lot of light in my workshop, so I would tend toward a white epoxy finish on the concrete floor. I don't think it would be that difficult to keep clean either. I've never spilled anything on my floors that couldn't be cleaned up fairly quickly.

Rocketman612

My Feedback: (85)

I second the epoxy coating. If you keep the shag then I'd get a Lava Lamp to add some flare.

Cycotravlr

A Lava Lamp would be Great for late night pondering. I might try that.