Wood versus Pergo for flooring?

Hi--my first post here, though I've been lurking for a while. We're planning to build a house with a 1000sf studio down here in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. There is the question of what kind of flooring material I should use for both my control room (10 x 20) and the live room (the rest, divided into three iso booths--drums, acoustic bass, tenor sax or vocals) and a large space for acoustic piano and additional musicians, choir etc. I want wood floors--but wood floors here in central rural Mexico are not that easy to come by without spending a ton of money. It might be cheaper to get a Pergo-type product--plywood or pressboard with a wood veneer. Is there a significant difference in the quality or utility of these kinds of products versus the real thing? Many thanks, Doug

Welcome to the family! :) I would think that a laminate floor (e.g., Pergo brand) would be easier to maintain and less prone to scuffs and scratches. However, I don't know that you'd want to put a heavy piano on it either. :roll: Acoustically, I don't think it would matter much -- but I'm not qualified to speak to that. Have you considered etched stained concrete? It's cheaper than both wood and laminate, extremely durable, and looks a lot like marble. 8) --Keith :mrgreen:

"Have you considered etched stained concrete? It's cheaper than both wood and laminate, extremely durable, and looks a lot like marble. " hey, Keith--thanks for the welcome and the response! I know that wood is a hard surface and everything, but I guess I still innocently believe that it would be less reflective, in a good way, than concrete. I do also have the concern about rolling around my grand on a laminate floor, but I thought I'd ask in case anyone here has done it and gotten away with it. ;)

Might wanna check this out if you're gonna move it on a regular basis - not cheap, but MUCH cheaper than a new piano - http://www.concertpitchpiano.com/Moving ... aRoom.html Just a thought... Steve

Thanks, Steve--I do have my grand on a grand piano dolly as pictured, as it is the safest way anyone has discovered. And I don't move it around lot, either.

The weight of a piano will not destroy a pergo floor. A Bad installation, and just plain ole abuse (would you do this to a wood floor you love mindset) comes into play.

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Thanks, guys! No, the CR isn't built already and I thank for yout the link. We don't own the property yet, and once that happens we will get into serious design mode.

One possible option to improve modes is to use some of the 20 feet as a machine room (if you need one) - you'd need a SOLID wall to change modes, just absorption won't do much to affect that... Steve

Sharwad, you mentioned stained concrete. I've been planning on using pergo/laminate in my tracking room... but doing stained concrete would be a LOT easier and a LOT cheaper. I hadn't really considered concrete because it seems like it would be too reflective. Does anyone think it might be a viable option? I imagine the ceiling treatment would have to compensate for the reflectiveness of the floor. Thoughts/opinions? Thanks!

I'm not the acoustics guy, but I would think if it were too reflective you could throw an area rug or two on it to deal with that. The cool thing about that approach is that you could dynamically control/reduce the amount of absorbtion by rolling up part or all of the rug(s). 8) The same would be true of any type of reflective floor. --Keith :mrgreen: