Opinions on flooring for new train room

Well if you go with carpeting and a lot of padding, you can somewhat dampen the noise but since its a shelf layout and you are attaching the shelves to the wall, carpeting maybe a moot point. You still could have potentially a lot of noise. What type of track are you going to use?

Commercial grade carpet is my choice.

Carpeting is the choice for comfort and noise reduction.  However, if you repair anything in that space be wary, carpet devours small parts, some are never seen again.

I'd go with hardwood flooring and an area rug.  Wall to wall carpeting traps dirt and other things.  When building your layout, you may want to do some of the work in the room.  Cutting, sanding, painting, etc.  Cleaning a hardwood floor is child's play compared to worrying and cleaning carpeting.

I suspect you can tell I am not a fan of carpeting.  Why it's used in such places as hospitals, boggles my mind.   

Just a clarification, I meant the layout would be around the walls not a walk around but it will still be a tabletop not a shelf attached to the walls.

Dan, I know what you mean about working on the layout and keeping  carpeting clean.  That's also a concern I failed to mention.

Consider vinyl plank flooring.  Your train room is not going to be a high traffic area so you can choose some of the low cost options.  It installs easily, cleans up easily and comes in a variety of colors.

Ask your wife which she prefers, then say, “That’s what I was thinking!” 

In my opinion, I prefer hardwood for all the reasons Dan mentioned.  

I know there are different grades of carpet, but the fact that you are looking to replace six year old carpet tells me all I need to know about carpeting...wear and tear, spills/stains, pets, foot traffic, dated colors/patterns, etc.   Hardwood floors are so much more durable and have a timeless look to them. 

Bob;

I agree with Dan... hardwood would get destroyed pretty quickly, I’m afraid. After the layout is built, you can put down some area rugs or those interlocking foam squares for some cushioning on your feet. As for sound dampening, I think that is better addressed where the track is attached to the layout.

I'd vote for hardwood as well, with a commercial grade area rug post-construction. You should be able to get a bound remnant at any good carpet store that fits your size, taste and needs. Depending on your construction plans and schedule, you also might want to hold off on building the isthmus until last - after the rug is down.

Yeah, it's harder to clean carpet than hardwood, but with today's shop vac's and portable, battery powered vacuum cleaners it's not that much harder.

I'd consider the foam interlocking panels that many booths in York use, easy on the feet and easy to clean.  If you damage one, drop in a new piece.

Carpet is being fazed out in Hospitals in favor of welded sheet vinyl. Consider pressure release carpet tile over quarter inch Luan. Very easy to replace or change out.

If you must do carpet do a very low pile like a Berber. Anything higher and if you drop a small part like a screw it will be lost forever.

another vote for "anything but carpet".   I love having solid surfaces when I'm working on my toys.   Drop a part, and usually I can find it again.  With carpet, not so much. 

Engineered wood/ laminate flooring with acoustic padding below. Easy to install and maintain. It comes pre-finished so no scraping/ sanding, finishing after its installed. Area rugs or padded mats where you stand will ease fatigue.

Commercial grade 18"x18" foam backed carpet tiles are the ticket.  When the lobby of the nursing home I retired from was renovated that's what was used.  Takes foot traffic, cleans extremely well, very close pile and individual sections can be replaced if damaged.  My train room has hardwood floors and I'm going to put commercial carpet tiles over it.

I did rubber tiles of the type used for commercial gymnasium floors.  The foam tiles recommended by GRJ are a good choice too IMO.  Definitely easy on the feet!  I may get a couple of kitchen mats like that for in front of my workbench!

A laminate over acoustic insulation or vinyl plank flooring are easy to put down and maintain and aren't that expensive (easy to put down yourself, you no longer have the glue that Pergo used to use, many of them float over the underlying floor)......The rubber tiles that others mention are also pretty decent and they are good on the feet, just make sure to get good quality, the type they sell at places like Sam's club for kids playrooms isn't very durable IMO. 

CARPET is the ONLY way to go!  If you are sitting , kneeling or laying on that floor working on your WIRING, in the middle of Winter, it can't be beat !!!

Just saying,

FREDSTRAINS

This one's easy. Carpet.

Dan Padova posted:

I'd go with hardwood flooring and an area rug.  Wall to wall carpeting traps dirt and other things.  When building your layout, you may want to do some of the work in the room.  Cutting, sanding, painting, etc.  Cleaning a hardwood floor is child's play compared to worrying and cleaning carpeting.

I suspect you can tell I am not a fan of carpeting.  Why it's used in such places as hospitals, boggles my mind.   

All of the above, with a couple of additional thoughts...

1) Rubber padding attached to the end of each table leg - reduces noise, prevents scratching the floor, and easy to clean around.

2)  An alternative to area rugs is to use interlocking rubber squares where you want to stand.  Easy on the feet, easy to move, easy to clean, and inexpensive.

While it may be more comfortable to your knees on carpet under your work bench looking for that odd truck screw, they will be plenty sore with extra time under there finding it hiding in the tufts and threads.  Keep a moveable pad for that and go with a hard, clear surface you can sweep a lantern beam across.  Hard enough then to find that tiny part you spent two hours shaping..

Laminate flooring for me. Screws are easy to find. Simple to clean. And I can slide around on my back when I need to get under the layout.

I installed linoleum, plain color, no pattern, in my train room (30'x60') twenty years ago. I've never regretted it.

Jan

I put indoor/outdoor carpet in my rc/airplane shop and 20 years later it was still fine. Much better than kneeling on hardwood. No padding, just directly on the concrete. Had no downside that I could see.

First off congrats on your new house.  As we age the ranch style become very desirable.  We moved from our two story this Spring and are glad we did.

Put my vote in the carpet column.  I have it in my basement where my layout is going and strongly recommend it.

Since you plan on having your layout on the main floor you will need the carpet to absorb the sounds.  Otherwise it will be carried to the adjoining rooms via the floor joist.  It may not sit well with your spouse if she is watching tv, reading, cooking,  sleeping or any other activity.

Having built many layouts on hard floors, I very strongly suggest a carped floor for your layout room!  Every time you add an accessory or light or more track, you will be getting on your knees and laying on your back (or back side).  It is also less fatiguing when standing for a long period of time.  As for loosing screws, a strong magnet works great!  And if you drop a car or heaven forbid an engine, the damage is usually far greater on a hard floor.

Good luck with your decision and happy railroading,

Don

coach joe posted:

My wife and I just bought a "ranch" style house.  I had been hoping for a spare room over the garage for the trains bit things didn't work out that way so the trains will be going into a spare bedroom.  The six year old carpets are showing signs of use and wear so we're planning on changing them before we get everything moved in.  I figure the new layout to be an around the wall with maybe an isthmus sticking out into the middle.  I'm trying to decide if we should go with new carpet, easier on the feet and adds some sound dampening, or hardwood, no potential settling and ease of moving layout away from walls if necessary.  Any opinions would be welcome.

coach joe.

I wish you well in your new home mate. 

I have had commercial carpet in my train room now for at least 40 years sure there are a few marks and the old cat peed on it in a couple of places but who looks at the floor. It'll still be there when they carry me out in a body bag. I have to tell you the house like most in West Australia are built on concrete slabs. we live in a sandy place no dirt.  Roo.

Well coach I recommend to pull up a small section of the carpet from a corner or from around the heat vent.  Then look to see what basis of wood is under your existing carpet.

If it is a hardwood floor you are  set.

If a particle board is laid under your carpet, as many were in late 60's through the 80's you must make a decision.   

Companies who manufactured the wood floor will not recommend nor will they guarantee their floor if particle boarding is used under their flooring.

The particle board must come up if you use new wood flooring.  So prior to decisions are made you must do homework.  If either Harwood or particle board lies beneath you can install new vinyl flooring...

My recommendation is hardwood for your rain room.  Until you investigate what lies beneath, you cannot make a decision...  My food is painted rough subfloor.  I can find anything that hits the floor, eventually.

Coach,

Congrats on a new house with a train room!  In our present home, my train room is a very large basement room with a terrazzo floor.  My layout is a large "donut" and I put down a 3 foot wide runner along the edges and one along the center.  I had the misfortune to have a locomotive drop in the terrazzo, and it didn't do well.  Other things dropped on the carpeting, although they were damaged,  weren't as bad as they could have been.  Plus the runners make it nicer on the feet and absorb stray sounds, while the bare floor sections makes it easier to slide on when repairs are needed underneath.  Your results may vary...

poniaj posted:

Coach,

Congrats on a new house with a train room!  In our present home, my train room is a very large basement room with a terrazzo floor.  My layout is a large "donut" and I put down a 3 foot wide runner along the edges and one along the center.  I had the misfortune to have a locomotive drop in the terrazzo, and it didn't do well.  Other things dropped on the carpeting, although they were damaged,  weren't as bad as they could have been.  Plus the runners make it nicer on the feet and absorb stray sounds, while the bare floor sections makes it easier to slide on when repairs are needed underneath.  Your results may vary...

Wow, terrazzo floor in the basement !   Terrazzo is probably one of the longest lasting floors in existence.  

Put me down for carpet. Easier on the feet, and has sound deadening qualities. 

I'm at the beginning of a major rework of my train room. The old layout is pretty much gone, except for a few strangler pieces. I tore out the old carpet as it really needed to go! I got lucky in that the place where I work is renovating large amounts of office space, which includes replacing the carpet squares. These are 2x2' industrial grade carpet squares with very little wear. I asked what was going to happen to them. The answer was a land fill. I asked if I could prevent a hundred or so of them from that fate. The answer was "Yes!" I carted them home, cleaned them up, which did not take much, and installed them. I think they look great!

Don't worry about the wall. I have my work cut out for it.

Chris

LVHR

I bought my train room 14 years ago.  I needed to move from my apartment with short notice so I didn't have much time to do any remodeling or improvements except to pull up the old, old wall-to-wall carpet.  The flooring I could install the fastest was laminate.  It is still there throughout the house. 

Like me, you don't have that desired basement for your layout.  Mine is in the living/dining room of my ranch.

I have area rugs in most rooms.  In the train room most of the floor is under the homasote topped layout and covered with boxes.  Only the aisles have flooring visible.  I don't think that that flooring adds to the sound.  The sheetrock walls and ceiling definitely do the most by reflecting what sound there is.

Whatever you do to the floors in the rest of your house, you should do in your train room.  Be consistent.   You may then cover it with carpets or tiles which can be easily removed later.

Jan

colorado hirailer posted:

While it may be more comfortable to your knees on carpet under your work bench looking for that odd truck screw, they will be plenty sore with extra time under there finding it hiding in the tufts and threads.  Keep a moveable pad for that and go with a hard, clear surface you can sweep a lantern beam across.  Hard enough then to find that tiny part you spent two hours shaping..

Not true, they make low pile commercial carpet tiles (like in the Drs. office).  I put them in my basement and its so nice to work under the layout that's not a hard, cold floor.  I don't find that enjoyable.  Parts are easily found because they are almost smooth so nothing can actually go into the carpet  I got them at home depot and they are practically indestructible.  Plus if one gets damage they are easily pulled up and replaced.

I currently have carpet, but that's just because it was already here and brand new.  If I were covering a bare concrete floor, I'd still choose the rubber interlocking tiles. very easy on the feet.  However, I'd consider having the leveling feet for the layout on the hard floor, took a little tweaking to get it all level on carpet.

I did discover one issue with the interlocking rubber tiles: They can easily allow you to inadvertently build up a static charge! You find out about it when you touch something that's grounded. That's why I decided not to use them. The electronics in our engines are not likely to take kindly to that abuse. And I'm not going to try to find out the hard (and expensive) way.

Chris

LVHR

My layout is on Carpet as well, but under each Leg I have a 6” ceramic tile, on top of the Carpet! This made the leveling job a lot easier!  Just my 2 Cents!!

lehighline posted:

I did discover one issue with the interlocking rubber tiles: They can easily allow you to inadvertently build up a static charge! You find out about it when you touch something that's grounded. That's why I decided not to use them. The electronics in our engines are not likely to take kindly to that abuse. And I'm not going to try to find out the hard (and expensive) way.

Carpet does that as well Chris.

Fredstrains posted:

My layout is on Carpet as well, but under each Leg I have a 6” ceramic tile, on top of the Carpet! This made the leveling job a lot easier!  Just my 2 Cents!!

Well, I have these under the legs on the carpet for the same reason.  The teeth keep them from moving, the recess keeps the leg from wandering.  Credit Tom Tee with that little gem.

GRJ,

I'm certain that carpet does as well. I'm hoping the rate and intensity will be less. But I don't have any factual or anecdotal evidence to back up that hope.  I think I may strategically install grounding points on the edge of the layout to help combat this. Better safe than sorry.

Chris

LVHR

Thank you for all the input so far.  As I knew when I asked there are pros and cons for each solution.  I'll just have to weigh them all and make a decision.