Wood floor decision.

[Dan Scott]

Cool, and thanks for the link. It would seem that you do this 1st, before construciton of walls, is this correct?

Dan

[gullfo]

i would finish the cement first. avoid getting cutting compounds and stains on the wood or finish... plus its cement... its fairly resistant to damage - even so just be careful with chipping it with an errant hammer blow or sharp metal objects...

[Dan Scott]

I was thinking more about this staining/polishing process and was wondering about something. It would seem that the polishing would effect the stain as it is "sanding" the floor. How does this work? Do you first stain the concrete then polish. If this is the case, the stain must go pretty deep into the concrete.

I really want to do this and am clearing my garage this weekend. I thought I would start framing walls, but need to do this first. Any more help would be much appreciated.

I will have to find who rents the equipment, materials, etc.

Dan

[holickpro]

I am the process of installing laminate over wood (2 sheets of 3/4" ply and 1 sheet of 3/4" MDF) and I would have to say I couldn't be any happier. During the selection process at Lowes I almost went with solid hardwood because it looked so much nicer. Now that I have it installed, am I very happy I saved the money because it looks great. My wife even said it was sexy It's fairly easy to install, especially if you have a helper, but I did do 3/4 of mine by myself. I used the Armstrong Swiftlock. There is no hollow sound when you walk on it, and I am trying to invision the resonant frequency situation in my head and I can't really picture it well. Maybe I could do some type of tests. I would think it would be less likely to resonate because it is floating. Regardless, I dont think it is a big enough deal to worry about. What do some of you acoustical experts think?

[gullfo]

Dan - the way i've done is: clean and sand the surface until very smooth, then stain, then final polish and seal and buff. the stain does get into the cement pretty deep (compared to how much surface you could actually wear off ) call your local rentals places, most of the equipment is the same as wood floors, you just use different types of grit pads and in the final smoothing and buffing stages something almost like metal polish - minimal abrasive.

holickpro - you're not really floating the floor if you have no air gap under it. so the MDF and plywood are sitting directly on the floor? if so, what did you put under it to keep it from getting/staying damp?

[holickpro]

I have nothing between the existing plywood floor and new sheet of mdf then ply respectively. Kendale offered the advice on adding the layers and I never even thought to add anything to block moisture. I believe the reason the floor manufacture refers to the laminate as a floating floor is because it is not glued or nailed down. Any ideas on the moisture issue or concerns?

[xSpace]

I have nothing between the existing plywood floor and new sheet of mdf then ply respectively. Kendale offered the advice on adding the layers and I never even thought to add anything to block moisture.

Yea, if the existing sub-floor is a wood product then you should not have an issue with moisture.

This page began with a discussion on flooring over concrete, that is where the con-fusion-and-cern came from.

[holickpro]

Ah...Thanks for straightening things out! Maybe I shouldn't just chime in on the middle of a topic - I would like to add, I had concrete floors in my old studio and recordings do have a distinct brightness. I have a feeling I am going to miss that sound. Good luck with your floor and studio.

[natas]

The concrete floor that I have are very rough, it would be really difficult to get it polished. Love the idea though. Where I work has an area of polished concrete and it looks great and tough as hell.
I am thinking, concrete > 3/4" plywood nailed down > Hardwood floor(maple) nailed to the plywood. ?

Clifford.

[saint gillis]

what is the best wood to use on the floor?

I'm minding the same question...

What is the best choice of wood for a floor considering cost, durability, sound..?
In my case it is for a recording room with absorbing ceiling, and half-absorbing/half pine walls..


And also I'd like something not thicker than 1cm..

Any advice?

[Soundman2020]

What is the best choice of wood for a floor considering cost, durability, sound..?
In my case it is for a recording room with absorbing ceiling, and half-absorbing/half pine walls..

Personally, I really like laminated flooring. There's some darn nice looking ones available these days, and they are great acoustically as well as visually.

- Stuart -