Pinroom, raising the floor advice. - flooring type too?

[Asiapinball]

David I would really recommend getting the outside wall insulated at the same time. At 2.74m width you will bring it down to 2.64m so plenty of room to get the glass off and all you will be paying for is 4 panels of insulated plasterboard and half a days labour plus a small amount for reconfiguring electrics on that wall. I can't see it being much more than 500 extra and the room will really benefit particularly if it is a single skin external wall as I suspect it is.

 

[Judderman]

With it not being a very big step, you could try one of the Elite lift trucks, with the pin on with the front towards the handle. Push it close to the edge of the step, then let the back end down gently, supporting against any slippage (& have someone to hold the truck)

 

[David_Vi]

Does anyone have any opinions on low pile carpet or carpet tiles?
Can you get carpet tiles that feel nice?
I often pop into the room bare feet (probably laziness) and my perception of carpet tiles is itchy stiff carpet .

I'd prefer carpet over hard flooring as it will absorb some of the noise.

David I would really recommend getting the outside wall insulated at the same time. At 2.74m width you will bring it down to 2.64m so plenty of room to get the glass off and all you will be paying for is 4 panels of insulated plasterboard and half a days labour plus a small amount for reconfiguring electrics on that wall. I can't see it being much more than 500 extra and the room will really benefit particularly if it is a single skin external wall as I suspect it is.

This has come up a few times, I think you may have mentioned it on my thread about the new door a year ago?

I think that wall has some sort of insulation on it already, it's like a plaster board with something behind it? I can just about make it out its not been plastered since new sockets went in.

 

[Ashbo]

Does anyone have any opinions on low pile carpet or carpet tiles?
Can you get carpet tiles that feel nice?
I often pop into the room bare feet (probably laziness) and my perception of carpet tiles is itchy stiff carpet .

I'd prefer carpet over hard flooring as it will absorb some of the noise.




This has come up a few times, I think you may have mentioned it on my thread about the new door a year ago?

I think that wall has some sort of insulation on it already, it's like a plaster board with something behind it? I can just about make it out its not been plastered since new sockets went in.

Replaced carpet with carpet tiles in my room. Carpet tiles better for pins, but you notice there is no underlay so not quite as comfy. I use pinball slippers now. Problem solved

 

[Jib]

I've got carpet tiles, the idea of having to move everything out of the room to replace the carpet if something happened to it was enough to go tiles vs low pile carpet. I've got anti-fatigue mats to stand on while playing.

 

[Asiapinball]

This has come up a few times, I think you may have mentioned it on my thread about the new door a year ago?

I think that wall has some sort of insulation on it already, it's like a plaster board with something behind it? I can just about make it out its not been plastered since new sockets went in.

Yes, I do go on about insulation. It comes from properly insulating 200 year old stone built house in the far North of England and cutting our heating oil consumption down to 50% of what it was before insulating.

Maybe insulation has already been done on the wall. Does the plasterboard on the wall feel warm or cold? Tap it with your knuckle and does is sound solid like other solid walls in your house or have a dull but hollow sound. Warm and dull hollow are good as it is most likely insulated. To be sure you can just drill a single hole (or get your builder to do it) through the plasterboard (away from any electrics) then if the dust turns from plaster dust to something expanding foam dust then it would be kingspan behind and if you get fibres it has rockwool in it. Either is good. Your builder should be able to work it out quickly.

 

[Asiapinball]

Big advantage of carpet tiles in your situation is that all the wear will be in front of the pins where you stand to play them / walk, so when it gets worn in that area (or you spill a beer) you can just swap them out for some that have been under the pins, so probably 3x the life than having fitted carpet. Sometimes carpet fitters glue the tiles down (particularly in large areas or high wear areas such as offices). This stops them moving around. But in a room your size probably no need for any glue, they will just need a tight fit against the skirtings.

And you can get sort carpet tiles too.

 

[Lecari]

Also, is this a fixed price that they will stick to even if their material costs increase or they hit snags, or a rough estimate which might change over time? I'd expect the former to cost you at least 10% more than the latter to cover their risk, but it would give you peace of mind that the cost is fixed.

The price is fixed if we go with them within the next 7 days, after that it may change

With the carpet tiles, he said he'd show us carpet tiles that are in that price range - if we didn't like any of them and wanted more expensive ones, then the price would obviously increase, which is reasonable!

I've got 2-3 more builders coming for to quote over the next few days.

 

[AlanJ]

Not tempted with a lino or laminate? @David_Vi ?

 

[David_Vi]

Not tempted with a lino or laminate? @David_Vi ?

Hadn't considered lino, I associate it with living in a council flat in my youth and it not being very nice plus my previous place was council and we used lino in lounge as it was cheaper but it marked so easy.
Is it something people really use for pinball?

Laminate I consider hard floor, doesn't it have the same characteristics?

 

[AlanJ]

Most of my downstairs is “lino” or if you want to be posh , Karndean or Amtico


Pinroom is hard wearing laminate


Laminate is cheaper than lino !

I like both. prefer the Karndean as it’s warmer feel and less slippy , but the laminate is over underfloor heating and the smoother surface is better for sliding pins about.

 

[OTRawrior]

Just checked with her at home and she though the same as me so maybe this could clear some confusion... Maybe a regional thing, most people I know consider Lino to be the rubbery flooring you lay down as a big layer, often printed with a tile or laminate effect.

Amtico is sometimes called lino because its also called luxury vinyl, and vinyl is what I'd consider to be the same as lino.

But Amtico goes down as planks that you click together - which I would normally call laminate.
With Amtico (and presumably Karndean, I don't know the brand) being a particularly nice but expensive brand of laminate.

Does that help or make things more confusing

 

[Asiapinball]

I have karndean in my pin room. It's really the same stuff as Amtico but was traditionally used more in commercial settings whereas amtico was aimed at residential market. It went down 13 year ago and it is as good as new but it was commercial grade as I bought it from a fitter as overstock from his job laying it in the foyer of a local hospital.

It was glued to the solid floor which had to be levelled precisely.

The click systems are relatively new innovation and I believe they are for suspended wooden floors where you expect some movement or for ease if fitment as you don't need such precise levelling.

It's all still vinyl and it's very expensive and they recommend professional specialist fitters for the glue down stuff.

 

[Asiapinball]

Commercial grade karndean

 

[Asiapinball]

Usual places do click together vinyl like amtico or karndean but at fraction of cost although it is more expensive than laminate as Alan j says.

Alan J's laminate is excellent. At one of the league meets I thought it was wood until he told me it was laminate.

 

[Sven Normansson]

I have carpet tiles down. It helps also remove any echo, these things can be loud.