njquiltergirl Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 Hi Again. Another house question. We have a slab floor and want to finish it with either a terracotta type tile or a dark wood. It is a very sunny room and not heated year round. We are in northern NJ and it gets over 100 in the summer and below 10 degrees in the winter. What a range! The tile will be cold on the slab - a good thing in the hot summers. The wood will feel warmer but how is it on a slab...can dampness from the earth below the cement effect it? Never put wood on slab before. Will it fade terribly in the sunny room? Thanks for any thoughts! This is all new to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankiequilter Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 I think that wood is not an option for a slab. Trying to recall advice from when we built our house. I would consult a flooring expert. Seems you would have some expansiion/contraction with the temperature variance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisae Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 Lisa, you can now get "click-lock" engineered hardwood that allows installation of a floating floor over a concrete slab. We installed it in our previous house in both the family room and living room. You install an underlay that is a moisture barrier. It was easy to install. We did it all ourselves. We live in an area of temperature extremes (100 summers and -20 winters) and had no issues with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meg Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 tile will be uncomfortable in the cold.... wood will not be an option. if you want a wood look - you could try pergo. or how about that cork flooring? i don't know if it's possible over slab, but that stuff is heaven on your feet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankiequilter Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 Cork would be an option. We have it in our family room downstairs, over the cement. And like the click-lock engineered hardwood mentioned by Lisa, you put an underly down on the cement before installing the floor. I love the cork, feels great under foot, and I wish I had put it in my sewing room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 We did laminate floors in the basement but put down a floating wood floor base first. It is softer to stand on and it isn't ice cold. It has worked out very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleyl Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 They have a mat with heating elements in it that you place in the thinset under the tile, keeping the tile at a constant temperature. If it gets direct sunlight it will be hot on bare feet, but so would the wood. You can also get the radiant floor heat under the laminate or wood as well. Some wood and laminate are not meant for basements, some are, you have to check the manufacturers recommendation. Either one would work. If you are a barefoot quilter I would look at putting radiant or underlayment heating elements under either option. Shirley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neher-in-law5 Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 My vote would almost always be for the heated floor option. That doesn't mean that it needs to be kept at a high temp, just enough to not be cold. I wonder if it wouldn't make the moisture factor a better situation too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calicoquilter Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 Lisa, Like Heidi, we used a floating subfloor that is supposed to keep the floor warmer and dryer. We used something called Dri-Core. Here is a link to it. I think we got it at Home Depot. http://www.dricore.com/en/eIndex.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimerickson Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 Lisa: One thing to consider is how smooth the finished floor will be. I use a rolling saddle stool, and sit while I quilt. The tile floor you are considering will be uneven, and a stool or chair will not roll smoothly over it. It might also be difficult to move your machine around on the tile, depending on how large your wheels are. I installed a laminate floor in my quilting room, and it's OK, a bit noisy, but smooth. I think the laminates are color fast. I'm not sure about wood, but they probably are as well. Ask the supplier. Regards. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsha Nichols Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 Whatever wood. laminate or cork flooring you might use be sure to do a fingernail scratch test on a sample then you will know if it is durable enough for your workspace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 Originally posted by Calicoquilter Lisa, Like Heidi, we used a floating subfloor that is supposed to keep the floor warmer and dryer. We used something called Dri-Core. Here is a link to it. I think we got it at Home Depot. http://www.dricore.com/en/eIndex.aspx Yup that is the one we used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njquiltergirl Posted October 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 Wow, you all have such good suggestions and ideas. The floating wood floor sounds like the way to go, though the tile was so pretty. We could put a rug over the tile to warm it up, but then we would not see much of the tiles. It is really helpful to chat it out with all of you. I would be lost without our list, thanks so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammi357 Posted October 13, 2011 Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 http://www.subflor.com/ADVANCE/home.asp this is the stuff hubby and I are looking at. but, we've got bigger water issues to deal with first. s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njquiltergirl Posted October 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 That is very cool, S. Thanks for passing that along. My hubby will check it out. Good luck with your bigger water issues! Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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