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Flooring options - anything particularly bad or good?

#1
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4/2/09 at 4:50pm
  • Joined: April 2009
  • Post Count: 2
I'm building a home theater in my basement, which is in the process of being finished. We've yet to settle on a flooring option. Right now there is just a bare slab. We're torn between carpet, hardwood, and linoleum. Hardwood seems to be the most expensive option, but it's my wife's favorite. Carpet would work better in a home theater setting, correct? And what about linoleum, would it be worse than both, or in the middle?

Also, is there something I should do to the slab (subfloor, etc.) before putting in whatever flooring we choose which would substantially impact the quality of the sound?

-Dom
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#2
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4/2/09 at 7:29pm
  • Joined: August 2000
  • Location: Southaven, MS
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Re: Flooring options - anything particularly bad or good?

Hardwood is the worst for high frequency reflections. If your wife insists, you may want to get a rug or two. I think linoleum would have a similar impact on the sound. I have carpet over a concrete slab. It works great for me.

If you going for complete sound isolation then there are these little things that look like hockey pucks that will raise the floor. Not sure of the name but I saw them on the DIY network when they ran their series on home theaters (may be on their web site as well). Otherwise follow the manufacturer's guidelines for installing the flooring.

-Robert
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#3
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4/2/09 at 8:15pm
  • Joined: August 1999
  • Location: Katy, TX
  • Post Count: 5,823

Re: Flooring options - anything particularly bad or good?
Quote:
Carpet would work better in a home theater setting, correct?
Correct. Basically, the softer the floor covering, the better. Typically, with carpet and standard room furnishings, no other treatments are needed, from an echo/reverberation perspective.

I'd rate the flooring (worst to best):

1. Bare concrete/ceramic floor tile.
2. Wood or linoleum.
3. Area rugs over either of the above.
3. Wall to wall carpet.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
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