Pergo floor: footfall noise?

Started by Dan Phillips on 31 March 2010. 0 replies.

Originally posted at johnlsayers.com, topic 14236.

I am in the finishing stages of construction of a one-room garage studio. I've greatly appreciated all of the information from this site, and have referred to Rod's book throughout. I think we've done a pretty good job of creating a room-within-a-room space - once the green glue has set, and the doors and seals are in, I'll know for sure! The room is 18' 6" x 11' 10", with an assymetric vaulted ceiling that slopes from about 8' 5" to 10' over about a third of the length, and then 10' to about 7' over the remaining two-thirds. The intended use is all-purpose, including mixing, recording vocals, and recording drums and percussion. (Well, guitars and keyboards too, but using DI so acoustics are moot except for monitoring.) See the enclosed png for the basic layout. The space is built on a concrete slab, and currently there is no other floor. I have two persian rugs to use under the drums and mix position. I have read a large number of threads in this forum, and know that staining the concrete and using it directly would be an option. However, I want to use wood or laminate, for the look and feel (I typically don't wear shoes). Real wood is probably too expensive at this point. I have searched the forum for Pergo, and seen that most people think it's a reasonable choice. I would use a commercial-grade product. However, some have raised concerns about footfall noise due to its "floating" nature, and I'd like to avoid a situation in which footsteps and movements (such as a vocalist shifting around) are easily transferred to mics. I know that underlayments are available to reduce such noise. So, to my question is to those with direct experience with Pergo: do you experience any problems with noise from the floor, including footfalls transferring to mics?
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