Flooring for temporary living quarters

[syspig]

We're about to build a home, and will be moving into a large pole barn we built last year. The pole barn itself is uninsulated and unheated, but I've framed off a 12x30 room with 8' ceiling that will be heated/insulated for living quarters along with a small bath.

Once the house is done, the living quarters will revert to heated shop space. We could be in there up to a year.

So, with the above in mind - what might be a good flooring option over the concrete? We hate carpet for many reasons, but in this case it would be especially bad. The home construction site will be just outside, and between me and our two large dogs we'll be tracking tons of **** inside routinely. Whatever we come up with needs to be relatively easy to clean.

One of the concrete finishes sounds like a good long-term solution once it's a shop, but for living - it's a little cold and hard. Of all the options I've considered, interlocking foam tiles seem like a nice compromise - easier on the feet, not terribly difficult to clean (compared to carpet), and given our winters are typically in the 20's routinely - they might take the edge off when things get chilly. Cost-wise, they aren't too bad - and since it's quite possible I'll yank whatever we install out when the room gets converted back to shop space, that's a big plus.

Anything else I might consider?

 

[Strouty]

You could use some carpet squares from these guys. My GF wanted to get them instead of an area rug. The foam will be weird when you get mud or snow on it, these will just get dirty.

http://www.flor.com

 

[Holzarbeiter]

Laminate flooring, can be had cheap and is easy to install, next would be cork flooring but at a higher cost.

 

[toplessHO]

I pulled up a bunch of 12x12 carpet squares from an office that was demoed.
did the family room which is our main entrance that got all the pet and human traffic
as well as pet accidents being at the back door.
clean up was easy,just pull one up,hose it off,put a fresh one in and wait for the other to dry. Real bad ones were just thrown away.Not saying youll get lucky and get them for free like me but they wear like iron if you get commercial grade.
Other option is to seal and stain the floor and use throw rugs with a rubber backing

 

[black00lightning]

I would use vinyl click plank flooring. I is very durable (used in a lot of commercial spaces) and looks like wood flooring. I plan on using something similar for my wood shop. Floor will just float over the concrete.

 

[wtrueman]

I like the click together ,1/2" thick foam padding. The initial help is when you come in if you use some cheap Lino and in the living quarters use the 1/2 foam with some throws for comfort.

 

[APEowner]

I'd be tempted to do tile with radiant heat under it. It's kind of pricy for temp flooring and for a shop but if it works for both it might be worth it.

 

[mnavillus]

Click and lock VCT wood planks (if you don't like the wood look they have other color options) made by numerous companies, armstrong,mannignton and many more!

Last couple of yrs. I've been using (Moduleo vinyl luxury planks) for some offshore supply vessels and they are very durable, attractive and easy to remove down the road!

good luck!

 

[12ozd]

Indoor / outdoor carpet?
Trash it when you're done.

 

[Dave in Mass]

I would use vinyl click plank flooring. I is very durable (used in a lot of commercial spaces) and looks like wood flooring. I plan on using something similar for my wood shop. Floor will just float over the concrete.

This is what I used when I covered over cement in a converted car port in my in-laws house. Cheap. looks good, is moisture resistant underneath and mops up easily on top.

 

[ishiboo]

I would definitely use floating laminate. The padding will isolate the floor somewhat from the concrete/temps, you can find it dirt cheap, and it removes without a trace.

 

[brycez28]

our sunroom has a concrete floor. I put this 3 in 1 underlayment down with floating laminate over it. I wouldn't say that it was "warm", but it wasn't "cold" and actually felt warmer than the vinyl tile in the kitchen.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/TrafficM...emium-3-in-1-Underlayment-100779554/203956767

 

[James-W]

Years ago when a friend of mine went deer hunting, he rented a big Winnebago to stay in for a week rather than going to a motel. I don't know what it cost him to do that, but I don't think it was all that much because my friend has always been rather "frugal" and I doubt he would spend a lot to do this. It's just a thought but if you could rent one for a cheap enough price, it might be a better alternative to staying in the pole barn. Those Winnebagos have EVERYTHING you can imagine in them, in fact, they are almost like being at home. Since you won't be putting hardly any miles on it, I would think you could rent one for a reasonable amount of money.

 

[Garage Flooring]

We're about to build a home, and will be moving into a large pole barn we built last year. The pole barn itself is uninsulated and unheated, but I've framed off a 12x30 room with 8' ceiling that will be heated/insulated for living quarters along with a small bath.

Once the house is done, the living quarters will revert to heated shop space. We could be in there up to a year.

So, with the above in mind - what might be a good flooring option over the concrete? We hate carpet for many reasons, but in this case it would be especially bad. The home construction site will be just outside, and between me and our two large dogs we'll be tracking tons of **** inside routinely. Whatever we come up with needs to be relatively easy to clean.

One of the concrete finishes sounds like a good long-term solution once it's a shop, but for living - it's a little cold and hard. Of all the options I've considered, interlocking foam tiles seem like a nice compromise - easier on the feet, not terribly difficult to clean (compared to carpet), and given our winters are typically in the 20's routinely - they might take the edge off when things get chilly. Cost-wise, they aren't too bad - and since it's quite possible I'll yank whatever we install out when the room gets converted back to shop space, that's a big plus.

Anything else I might consider?

One great option is to go to the local carpet stores and see what they have for remnants. I know you don't like carpet but for the price... I hear lumber liquidators has a lot of laminate flooring real cheap Only kidding. Stay away from cheap laminate right now, until the dust settles. I do know that Home Depot has some private branded product that is made by a reputable source. The backing on it keeps the coolness of the concrete down a little.

A ton of people are using porcelain tile in the garage / shop. Consider using that and leaving it in place. Have you considered radiant heat?

 

[bczygan]

We're about to build a home, and will be moving into a large pole barn we built last year. The pole barn itself is uninsulated and unheated, but I've framed off a 12x30 room with 8' ceiling that will be heated/insulated for living quarters along with a small bath.

Once the house is done, the living quarters will revert to heated shop space. We could be in there up to a year.

So, with the above in mind - what might be a good flooring option over the concrete? We hate carpet for many reasons, but in this case it would be especially bad. The home construction site will be just outside, and between me and our two large dogs we'll be tracking tons of **** inside routinely. Whatever we come up with needs to be relatively easy to clean.

One of the concrete finishes sounds like a good long-term solution once it's a shop, but for living - it's a little cold and hard. Of all the options I've considered, interlocking foam tiles seem like a nice compromise - easier on the feet, not terribly difficult to clean (compared to carpet), and given our winters are typically in the 20's routinely - they might take the edge off when things get chilly. Cost-wise, they aren't too bad - and since it's quite possible I'll yank whatever we install out when the room gets converted back to shop space, that's a big plus.

Anything else I might consider?

I would figure on being something of a slob for a year.

First I would want to insulate the floor. So I would lay down a layer of 2" rigid foam insulation boards. On top of that I would lay used carpet scrounged from companies that do commercial carpet work. I would take the carpet and lay it on the foam board upside down and use it like a padded protection for the foam. Commercial carpet is usually very thin. Usually it is glued down, but some is not. In any case, this surface is just something to walk on to protect the foam. The carpet is throw away and can be replaced if it gets too bad. The foam can be reused elsewhere. If you have an area where you want a nicer surface, lay down a piece of commercial vinyl sheet. Size and select it for reuse as well.

That's my quick and dirty solution.

How about rolling a nice trailer or RV in there and living in that?

I also see office trailers and small single wide house trailers for free on CL. How about one of those?

Bill

 

[davidlee]

RaceDeck has 12x12 snap together carpet. It is racedeck with indoor/outdoor carpet glued to it. I used it in an area of my shop. It goes down fast and there is air space under it and you can replace any squares that get soiled or damaged. I love for the area I used it in.

 

[Garage Flooring]

RaceDeck has 12x12 snap together carpet. It is racedeck with indoor/outdoor carpet glued to it. I used it in an area of my shop. It goes down fast and there is air space under it and you can replace any squares that get soiled or damaged. I love for the area I used it in.

Snap Carpet is a good option... http://www.garageflooringllc.com/garage-floor-carpet-tile-snapcarpet/

 

[theoldwizard1]

Vapor barrier, 2x4 sleepers, insulation, 3/4 plywood, paint., throw rugs. Not cheap, but the vapor barrier and insulation plus the small amount of flex in the plywood makes a huge difference.

Get an outdoor boot scraper. Better yet, build "air lock" outside, big enough store your boots and work coats with a bench so you can sit down and put you boots on.

 

[Strouty]

Vapor barrier, 2x4 sleepers, insulation, 3/4 plywood, paint., throw rugs. Not cheap, but the vapor barrier and insulation plus the small amount of flex in the plywood makes a huge difference.

Get an outdoor boot scraper. Better yet, build "air lock" outside, big enough store your boots and work coats with a bench so you can sit down and put you boots on.

"Air lock" Is that a mudroom?

 

[theoldwizard1]

"Air lock" Is that a mudroom?

I couldn't think of the proper term at the time !

 

[Strouty]

I couldn't think of the proper term at the time !

It worked, I may start calling mine the air lock now.

 

[MattN03]

We're about to build a home, and will be moving into a large pole barn we built last year. The pole barn itself is uninsulated and unheated, but I've framed off a 12x30 room with 8' ceiling that will be heated/insulated for living quarters along with a small bath.

Did you end up living in the pole barn? How did it work out? We're considering doing exactly the same thing, but possibly for 2 years. I'm planning to remove the framed off living quarters after the house is built as we don't need/want living quarters in the shop.

 

[jimmyfloyd]

If you plan to remove it, i would look into an RV or Travel Trailer as suggested. It's already self contained, has everything you'd need, and when you are done, you can sell it or go camping.