DoryJM Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Okay, we're getting there. The pad has been levelled, the footings have been dug, the radiant-floor heat tubing has arrived, and the plans have been issued. Now we're waiting for our contractor to set a date to pour the footings/foundation and then the yurt goes up. Its not like I'm excited or impatient or anything--after all, sleeping in the living room does have its advantages and when I think of one, I'll let you know;) So my question (second of the day; work is BORING), is regarding flooring. Do I put in a tightly woven carpet or a really nice laminate? I have those snap-together pads that will go under Mel for cushion, but I have to cover the concrete with something. Do any of you have radiant heat? And whether you do or don't, what flooring does your dream studio have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankiequilter Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 I have hardwood and it is OK, but if I were doing it over again I would use cork. We put cork in our downstairs family room and it is nice to walk on and just feels good underfoot. Not as hard as a wood floor. I had berber carpet in our last house and was forever losing pins in the carpet so that would be my last choice. How exciting for you to have your own big studio area! Do you have a move in date? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoryJM Posted July 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Yesterday...I want to move in yesterday. Unfortunately, our contractor says he's tied up til 8/15!! I'm hoping we can whine our way to his coming out sooner...we'll see. Once the foundation is poured, it will only take a day to set it up. Two small interior walls, flooring, interior bracing and ... well, I'm hoping to be in by September or at least during September. Good to know about the carpet. I hadn't even thought about cork...that would help cushion the cement floor too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Dory, When we finished our basement hubby put in a base floor over the concrete. It comes in 2 x 2 ft squares that are chipboard and mounted on a vapor barrier. Then on top of that we put a laminate and I love it. I can just sweep, use the duster or run a vacuum and it works great. I would hate carpet on the whole floor only because I know I would drop pins and those are not fun to have cut out of your foot...been there done that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newellyn Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Hi Dory, We've chatted before about flooring so you already know that I have Laminate. I love it. I just give a quick vac and it is all cleaned up. Nothing sticks to it. I had carpet before and was always afraid to be in there barefooted for fear of pins plus vacuuming took many times longer to do. I'd never go back to carpet. One word of info though, if you sit to quilt your chair does have a hard time staying put on the laminate. I have a small rug I roll out when sitting so the chair is less slippery. It is one of those with a little town scene on it so my grandson plays on it when he is "helping" me up here. I guess you could call it a multi-purpose rug. I sure hope the wait goes fast for you. I know how frustrating it is. Our new building was supposed to be done no later than June 1, HA! We finally moved in the latter part of October and I got my machine set up about 2 days before Innovations. AARGH!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srichardson Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 We had a house with radiant heat. The house is older and I am sure that the radiant heating systems have changed since ours was installed. We loved the heating system. We had wool berber carpet in most of the house and tile in the other areas. The tiled areas got nice and toasty for the feet. The carpeted area was a nice even heat. I would check with your contractor to see how much heat will come through the floor. If you are standing in one area for an extended time it may get a little too warm. If you have laminate I would think that there may be quite a bit of heat transfer which may or may not cause swollen feet! It is a great heating system, the heat doesn't disappear out of the door is someone enters from outside. I wonder if you can run cold water through the pipes in the summer? Perhaps the newer systems don't use water pipes. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauras Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Cork is very nice (as least that's what I've been told). When you put it over concrete, you need to be sure to seal the concrete well. Cork apparently does not like being on a wet surface. Cork feels warm in the winter, and has give, making it easier on your feet.. My vote is for cork.:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollyrw Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 I have vinyl tiles over concrete and I find it hard to keep clean. Even after I sweep and it looks clean, fabric that touches the floor ends up with dust on it. I have to be really careful not to let any fabric or batting touch the floor. I'm planning to cover it with carpet that I can vacuum easier. I'll probably try some remnants under the Millie and the ironing board before I commit to wall-to-wall carpeting though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckeindl Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Not an expert, but I think you are just polling . . . I have an industrial carpet, of course I don't have radiant heat (and would love to), but this carpet is backed and applied directly to the concrete floor (not cold in the winter!). One thing we did is take a wad of threads and pins to the carpet store and tried throwing them down onto the samples we were auditioning?! Good luck and congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoryJM Posted July 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 You guys are great! I agree with the pins/carpet issue, but then I really understand the dust/laminate issue. My house has hardwood floors...they are NEVER clean. Well, okay, they're clean for maybe a day and a half; by then, we've driven in a couple times (dust from the road), the dogs have come in and shook (they're always dusty...unless they're wet from jumping in the creek:D) and we've walked in and not removed our shoes...more dust. The differences are that the dogs will not be in the studio and we will leave our shoes outside and have different shoes to wear in. Unfortunately, it will back up to our road, so there will still be dust from that. Decisions, decisions... We're going to look into cork when we're in Reno next. I think tile would be a great option, except that if I never set tile again, it will be too soon! Okay, back to dreaming.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam.Nagle Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 One thing to keep in mind with carpet. It will absorb all of those little fibers coming off the batting. There was a post a year or so ago with what was inside the vacuum cleaner. I have vinyl flooring in my garage/room. It's chilly, but I can keep it clean easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witha'K'quilting Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 I have natural slate tile over a concrete floor. It is sealed with a polymer coating. I am able to wet mop and then use a dust mop over the surface and keep my floor fairly clean. I do get dust bunnies under Frogger from the batting, but a simple dust mop and they are gone. I also have 7 little people running around in my studio too which adds to the dirt/dust. Since the slate is uneven, we had to level my table which was easy. If you have castors however and are planning on moving your machine around...the slate will cause you a constant headache. I find the slate comfortable on the feet year round. If I had another studio...I would choose either a acid-stained concrete floor (for color) or a rock floor ('cause I like rock)! NO carpet ever for me...not even in my house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katydids Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 I have a prefinished cork over concrete and I LOVE it. I used to have tile and in the winters it was soooo cold. the cork insulates from the cold, has some give to it so it is nice to stand on. The only down side... the finish cracked under my chair in front of the machine and my desk. I switched the wheels on the chairs to the rubber wheels, only too late They say you can lightly sand and refinish, but who has time for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Patty, Switching from the floor discussion to a ceiling one, I like your set up with your power cord. Is that available from APQS or where did you get the track and coiled power cord? Thanks, Vicki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 WOW, Patty! Your studio is enormous!!! And, you have 3 longarms? That is fantastic...every "girl's" dream. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbi Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Being a carpet person, I would probably opt for a tightly woven industrial carpet with a good pad... However, the cork sounds interesting! and Patty ! Your studio looks FAB!!! Dory - You have to take pics and show us yours!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankiequilter Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Dory, whatever you choose for the floor I think you will have dust bunnies. Some hide and others just show up more than others Sometimes I do have billowing bunnies on my hardwood but I just use a microfiber mop to catch the little rascals. I think if I had cork it would be the same. We put cork on concrete in our family room and you do have to lay down a moisture barrier. The product we used came on a roll, and we got it at Lowes. In my studio I have my two DSMs and a computer in a "U" configuration with a chair mat that I ordered from Staples that is made for hardwood. I didn't want to damage the hardwood and it would probably work for cork also. Ask the flooring experts a lot of questions to help you get the information you need to make the decision, and let us know what you decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neher-in-law5 Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 We plan to have in-floor heat in our sunroom (when it can get finished) and have it piped in the basement workroom. At this point the basement will be painted cement and the sunroom flooring is still being decided. I would like ceramic tile for the heat transfer and holding that it will do. Wood and carpet are more insulating than the tile, so I keep thinking that it will cost more to have the heat try to come through the insulating flooring than one that conducts it better. So what is the general weather temps that you will need to deal with? Will you be fighting the benefits with material that is harder to get the heat through? I am in Minnesota, so my winter heat factors may be different for you, but those are the questions that hubby and I keep trying to come to an agreement on. When you have your cement poured and leveled for your floor, have the workmen trowel the cement for a painted floor. We did that with the basement workroom and the cement is as smooth as a piece of vinyl flooring. It sweeps great and doesn't have the small rough holes that trap the dirt in them. Then you could have that as an option too. Or if it takes a while to get the right flooring decided on, you still could keep it clean easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Oh, yeah. If money is no object, go with cork. It is so easy to walk on.....well, stand and quilt on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoryJM Posted July 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 I like the cork idea alot; I'm just concerned though that it may be too much and the flooring may end up being a barrier to the heat transfer. While I'm not in ice cold Minnesota like Madelyn, I am in the northern Sierras. We are also north facing, so it gets c-c-c-cold here. Snow is usually on the ground for a couple of months at least; we are the last place to melt (or so it seems). I like the idea of having the floor smoothed for painting...in fact, I may look into just dying and maybe stamping the concrete. Then I could decide whether that was good or if I wanted something different. I had concrete counters in my house that burned down and other than the "easily scratched" factor, I LOVED them. I think the best way to deal with the dust bunnies is to probably have the maid sweep and mop my floor daily...as soon as I hire a maid anyway;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoryJM Posted July 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Oh, and Patty....your studio is incredible! The flooring is gorgeous and it looks like there's some sort of pattern on the ceiling?? Beautiful!! The thread rack at the end of your studio, is it a regular rack (like Joann's style?) or is it a pegboard? I can't tell. I think we need more pictures.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katydids Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Thank you for the comments on my studio. I have taken over the whole downstairs! Last year we bumped out a wall, dug out and down in an unfinished crawlspace (we don't have basements in FL) to get the additional room. cork Flooring.... if you have a Lumber Liquidators in your area you can get it pretty inexpensive. I shop around for everything and always find the best pricel!! We are also big "do it yourselfers" so save on that too;) Pattern on Ceiling... ceiling wallpaper from Lowes that looks like tin tile , then paint it. Really cheap! Thread rack... homemade from scrap wood and dowels.... styled after the June Tailor thread racks. overhead wiring.... curtain rod purchased online at walmart .com Curly cord from APQS. Dory, if you are going with heated concrete... I would have it stained and sealed. I would have stained mine and forgotten about the cork, but it was existing and didn't have radiant heat, so it would have been cold and hard! I do have more pictures on my website under the quilting link then studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witha'K'quilting Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 My vote and the cheapest of all of these methods...would be to have the concrete acid-stained. Then the radiant floor heating will not be affected. I would probably stay away from stamping the concrete if you have castors on your table for leveling purposes. Acid staining has to be done right away on 'green' concrete to get the most effect of the color. Have fun. Patty-What a fantastic studio you have. Love the cheery yellow and your setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankiequilter Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 We got our hardwood flooring from Lumber Liquidators - no problem. We did pick it up at one of their warehouses, but I think they will ship it. Also, they will send samples to you if you request them. As far as the mix of radiant heat and cork goes, you could do a little on line reasearch. I did a Google search of "cork with radiant heat". One of the results was at a yoga facility in Bloomington, MN, which is a suburb of Minneapolis/St. Paul. I'm originally from Minnesota and lived there for 47 years so I know it gets cold there. That's one of the reasons I'm not there now Heres the link for the yoga facility http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/EiQ8d6nZiaewy0YcwPL7-A?select=0PM_LfEFyBRzfr8jWkcM5w I think you will want to know if the radiant heat will dry out the cork or damage it over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatSchafer Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 I've had radiant heat in the floor and loved it. The first question needs to be asked of your radiant heat company - some coverings are better than others to convey the heat - some stifle the heat. If you do carpet, get advice on the padding as it relates to the heat. Pat Schafer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.