Best flooring for home cinema?

[bigboss]

I will be choosing flooring for my new build house in the next couple of weeks. Which is best for the lounge where my home cinema is going in: ceramic (Porcelanosa) or wooden laminate (Pergo)?

 

[CnoEvil]

I had laminite (I even think it was Pergo), and it was terrible for sound......Heavy underlay with a carpet is much better.

 

[simonlewis]

Check out topps tiles, i like black personally i like black stardust ceramic tiles but it's thirty one pounds a tile

 

[simonlewis]

I think CnoEvil may be correct hard floor will have a lot of reflections, carpet may be the way to go also if you have speaker stands they will have carpet spikes, just my thoughts though.

 

[simonlewis]

I think CnoEvil may be correct hard floor will have a lot of reflections, carpet may be the way to go also if you have speaker stands they will have carpet spikes, just my thoughts though.

 

[bigboss]

Carpet isn't an option unfortunately, upon orders of SWMBO 🙁

Which is the lesser of the 2 evils? Or proper wood (not laminate) flooring?

 

[Dave_]

Carpet isn't an option unfortunately, upon orders of SWMBO 🙁

Which is the lesser of the 2 evils? Or proper wood (not laminate) flooring?

Engineered Wood.

Its more stable than solid wood flooring (hardwood veneer on a MDF and ply substrate) and it isn't laminate...

 

[Stuart.W.D]

I was a flooring contractor for 4 years from my experience Laminate flooring has a life span of about 20 years. Ceramic can last almost indefinitely if you want the wow factor go for polished porcelain tiles it will give you a luxurious finish to your lounge

 

[Roundhead 5000]

I am a flooring contractor and I would say Ceramic tiles or Laminate are a definite no.

Have you looked at Amtico or Karndean? Not so reflective (Glassy)

The thing about these two are you can have borders/ personal designs, any combination you want.

Carpet is by far the best option soundwise, but Amtico or Karndean might be a good compromise.

When I first started out in flooring we did some banks in London in Amtico. It was still down 25 years later, and they took a lot of traffic.

The designs then were a bit more industrial, but if it's done properly I think an Amtico floor is for life.

It isn't cheap though I'm afraid.

Anyway, just another option mate.

 

[bigboss]

Wow! The world of flooring is much bigger than I thought!! Engineered wood looks really good. I always thought of vinyl as a low quality cheap option......Amtico & Karndean.......are they really that good?

 

[bigboss]

Also, what's most suitable for underfloor heating?

 

[FunkyMonkey]

I am undergoing a renovation and have built a dedicated extension for home cinema. It will have water based underfloor heating. I plan to reuse laminate flooring or porcelain tiles as I don't want heat loss from carpet. All modern receivers have advanced eq so I am not worried about sound artifacts. In fact I have found that laminate room sounded better for me than carpet after I moved last year. I wouldn't base my floor around my home cinema especially in lounge.
You could always lay a rug after.

 

[Glacialpath]

Hi BigBoss. Getting excited about your new house?

What is the subfloor? I'm guessing it's concrete. If so a solid wood floor glued directly to the subfloor that has beet treated with damp proofing (if needed) will give the and all round finish. With the underfloor heating the wood will feel nice inderfoot. It will last a life time and it can even be sanded every 10 years if you or your wife feel it's gotten to tatty.

I have a laminate floor in my flat. Not sure if you've seen my My System pics. You can then place a nice rug infron of the front speakers if you find it to reflective.

A solid wooden floor will also be easier to lay carpet on in the future if you change your minds and you won't have to pull up the wood floor.

I layed plenty of wood floors for 2 years and some of them people hade Home cinemas and Hi-Fis going in too.

Hope that doesn't throw too much of a spanner in the works.

 

[duaplex]

Boss - In my living room I have oak flooring and a rug, never noticed any problems with relfections or boom effects from the sub.

If budget permits go for Oak floors and have a decent carpenter batton, glue and nail it down (very important). As for under floor heating, there are many options and I would recommend going to Howdens 🙂

While carpet is good its not the be all and end all for Cinema and certainly nothing to be caught up about. You can always balance any echo or relfections by adjusting speakers, have curtains, canvass art or like mentioned a good rug.

Hope this helps 🙂

 

[CnoEvil]

The trouble with Laminate Flooring, is that if any of the top surface gets damaged (ie. srcatched off), and it always does, it is white underneath (and looks horrible).

Amtico is as hard wearing as it gets, but is what is often used in supermarkets and shopping centres.

Ceramic tiles will give your room the acoustics of a bathroom.

Natural wood is the nicest, but as Daveh said, is more unstable (due to its moisture content)...it needs a specialist supplier (to store and install it properly).

I have no experience of engineered wood, but suspect it is the way to go unless you are prepared to spend a fortune on a really good wooden floor.

I have used this crowd, who are good, and do planks suitable for under floor heating: http://www.plankco.com/

 

[bigboss]

Wow! Keep the suggestions coming in!! *yahoo*

The plank company looks very good, although expensive. Will contact them, at least for the ground floor. Howdens is for tradesmen only. Will give them a call.

Does anyone have any experience of skirting board heating, like www.thermaskirt.com?

 

[bigboss]

Let me know how you get on.

IIRC they were the only company that i came across to give a decent warrenty, so ask about that....but they aren't cheap.

I've just emailed them. I think if the quality is well worth it, then I will consider it to be an investment.

 

[VoodooDoctor]

In my previous house, we had engineered wood flooring, it was very good looking and hard wearing. It needs to be properly installed and maintained but we felt it was worth the investment. We had a couple of Karndean tiled floors in the bathrooms too. It was hard wearing and looked great but was expensive. They do wood effect too.

In the current house, my cinema room has a porcelain tiled floor with underfloor heating (very nice underfoot in the winter). I found that there was a marked slap echo and slightly muddled bass. I tamed some of this with artwork on box canvases, a fabric sofa with lots of cushions and a rug on the floor. I also bought some fabric blinds for the windows (I had metal blinds in those at first). The most effective acoustic treatment though (as you would expect!) was to install some proper bass trapping in the front corners and at the first reflection points (I highly recommend Gik Acoustics for their advice service and their products - they now do bass traps with pictures printed on them). I still want to add some trapping on the ceiling at the reflection point there. This has resulted in the stereo, unequalised hifi sound becoming unmuddled and doing justice to the speakers and amplification.

After that the final part of taming the room came with using Audyssey XT32 on the pre-amplifier for movie watching. I managed to get a Pro kit to calibrate it so its working at its full potential but the basic setup still worked very well.

I think a stepwise approach using all the suggestions in this thread, once you have your room installed is the best way of getting to a sound you are happy with. The bass trapping was expensive (but worth it to me) and you may not feel that you need it. AVForums has a whole forum with guidance on room treatment.

 

[VoodooDoctor]

Tried to edit my post but it keeps saying that I triggered the spam filter...

Wanted to add that I also have bass trapping on the back wall.

 

[CnoEvil]

In my previous house, we had engineered wood flooring, it was very good looking and hard wearing. It needs to be properly installed and maintained but we felt it was worth the investment. We had a couple of Karndean tiled floors in the bathrooms too. It was hard wearing and looked great but was expensive. They do wood effect too.

In the current house, my cinema room has a porcelain tiled floor with underfloor heating (very nice underfoot in the winter). I found that there was a marked slap echo and slightly muddled bass. I tamed some of this with artwork on box canvases, a fabric sofa with lots of cushions and a rug on the floor. I also bought some fabric blinds for the windows (I had metal blinds in those at first). The most effective acoustic treatment though (as you would expect!) was to install some proper bass trapping in the front corners and at the first reflection points (I highly recommend Gik Acoustics for their advice service and their products - they now do bass traps with pictures printed on them). I still want to add some trapping on the ceiling at the reflection point there. This has resulted in the stereo, unequalised hifi sound becoming unmuddled and doing justice to the speakers and amplification.

After that the final part of taming the room came with using Audyssey XT32 on the pre-amplifier for movie watching. I managed to get a Pro kit to calibrate it so its working at its full potential but the basic setup still worked very well.

I think a stepwise approach using all the suggestions in this thread, once you have your room installed is the best way of getting to a sound you are happy with. The bass trapping was expensive (but worth it to me) and you may not feel that you need it. AVForums has a whole forum with guidance on room treatment.

If BB's Big Boss won't go for carpet, I suspect room treatment would not get passed as a viable option (and that's the polite way of putting it).*nea*

 

[VoodooDoctor]

That's why I mentioned the printed artwork on the bass traps.

If there really isn't much negotiation around some treatment of the room, then high quality equalisation like Audyssey, used for both hifi and movie listening, will probably be the only solution should it be difficult to tame.

 

[CnoEvil]

Let me know how you get on.

IIRC they were the only company that i came across to give a decent warrenty, so ask about that....but they aren't cheap.

I've just emailed them. I think if the quality is well worth it, then I will consider it to be an investment.

The quality is as good as it gets.

I went with 21mm Tiger Oak, which being grown in a cold climate is harder (due to growing more slowly). http://www.plankco.com/native-european-collection/siberian-tiger-oak-rustic/

 

[bigboss]

Cno is right. The real Big boss won't approve of bass trappings. 🙁 I somehow managed to get her to agree on in-wall and in-ceiling speakers as she wants to maintin minimalism in the lounge (I've still not reminded her that the subwoofer needs space as well). *secret*

I might be able to convince her for printed canvas wall art though.......

 

[CnoEvil]

Wow! Keep the suggestions coming in!! *yahoo*

The plank company looks very good, although expensive. Will contact them, at least for the ground floor. Howdens is for tradesmen only. Will give them a call.

Let me know how you get on.

IIRC they were the only company that i came across to give a decent warranty, so ask about that....but they aren't cheap.

 

[richardw42]

I want real wood flooring in my house, speaking to a floor layer, putting down a real wood is quite bothersome.

I ended up going for the engineered stuff, and used this stuff.

http://www.quick-step.co.uk/

Quick Step its very quick to fir. Not ridiculously expensive (if nosy dirt cheap)

i went for an oiled finish in oak and it looks fantastic.