Basement Flooring Under Pool Table – Ideas?
Hi All,
(a bit of background — if no time, please skip down to the *)
I’ve been offered a nice pool table and want to set it up in my basement (only room large enough to accommodate). The area it’ll be in is currently an old concrete floor (with a few hairline cracks and not absolutely level/flat, although it seems pretty close). I’d very much appreciate advice on what to do with the floor there.
The basement seems dry, although I haven’t done the plastic on the floor test yet, and it is a bit chilly. There’s a radiator down there for heat already, but the walls are just the uninsulated poured concrete, so they’re cold. I probably will build interior walls to warm things up a bit, but I only have 2 or 3 weeks before I have to take delivery and setup of the table, so I’m thinking I want to finish whatever floor I’m going to have under the pool table and then work around it, as needed to finish the whole room.
One possible problem is that we have periodic drain backups (a clog under the street that the city comes out and clears). Over the years, that has lead to two basement floodings (a pretty thin layer of water, but water, nonetheless). We are now better about detecting these backups before they end up on the floor, but I have to consider the possibility that the floor will get wet again in the future.
* So, any advice on flooring under a pool table and over concrete would be great! Here are the details I think matter:
– I’m no expert in home remodeling, although I work carefully and deliberately, so I can handle most jobs (used to be a car mechanic — have done lots of electrical work and built a new room).
– I only have 2 or 3 weeks to get this done.
– I’d love the floor to be a bit warmer than the current concrete, if possible.
– The floor might get wet, although that would be very unlikely.
– The floor needs to support a pool table.
– I like the look of wood and was originally considering building a sleeper type subfloor with rigid foam in the cavities and plywood and engineered wood on top, but I’m worried about that possible water problem. If I could isolate the area with this wood floor from the area that contains the overflowing sink/toilet, then maybe that would still work. (sealing the raised edge somehow? caulk, tile, etc.?)
– I think vinyl tile (whether simple checkerboard pattern or nicer textured wood or tile look) might be best because of its easy and fast installation and the fact that the tiles themselves are waterproof. But I’m guessing the floor would still be cold.
Any ideas? I’d love them!
Thanks!
Justin
Replies
Stain the concrete.
Consider a concrete stain and sealer. Depending on the concrete, prep could be anywhere from zero to sanding with a floor sander. From your descripton I doubt if you'd need to grind it. Hairline cracks will just be part of the patina. Heat loss will be much more of a problem through the walls, since the floor is well below grade. You won't really loose heat through the floor, but you will be warming a lot of thermal mass. If you plan to keep the room heated this shouldn'd be an issue.
basement pool table
You could store the pool table in a storage unit for the time being and not have to rush into a install in the basement. I had my pool table moved from one house to another by movers expienced moving and setting up pool tables. For them it was a snap. You would have to do some bird-dog work in your area to find the right people. The guys that set up my table used cedar shims to level the table with no problems in over 10 years.
best of luck with the project, rredogg
Water and wood do not go together. If you want to avoid the cold floor a vinyl product will help a little but it is still cold on bare feet.
We did our floor with porcelain tile because flooding is not impossible here.
I like the staining the concrete idea posted here already, but it will still be cold.
Here is a FHB article with XPS and a sump pump. https://www.finehomebuilding.com/design/qa/cure-for-a-leaky-stone-foundation.aspx?nterms=62152
You could do the same thing with XPS and sleepers. You would need a sump pump and drainage mat, etc. though. $$$
I'm not really familiar with this type of stuff, no basements where I live.
I've always wanted a basement though : D
Check out the Lea Acero line of tile. It looks a lot like wood but is tough as concrete.
This lived through a massive demo and renovation
(big picture file)
http://gfretwell.com/electrical/addition/demo_done.jpg
Why not just install some cheap indoor/outdoor carpet and be done with it. Buy yourself a good shop vac for the water problems.
To get the mastic off, Abatix has good products and can help you pick the right one:
http://www.abatix.com/products/CHEMICALS%20@@26%20PAINT/ASBESTOS@@2e1/MASTIC%20REMOVER.aspx
sleepers, insulation and plywood make a good base for just about anything, but if the area will get flooded I wouldn't add anything over the concrete except loose carpet that can be easily pulled up.
Fix the water issue first
You might consider installing a backflow preventer so that you can avoid future water problems. Then you could install that insulated floor with sleepers and have warm tootsies. When I was growing up, we had slate tiles under a pool table, and every time a ball flew off it and onto the floor, I was sure the ball was going to shatter. Thus, a cork floor, or other soft material, might be the way to go.
A backflow preventer (though certainly a good idea in some localities) won't prevent flooding due to high water table.