Is reflective flooring really necessary for a big live room?

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Corey Y
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Is reflective flooring really necessary for a big live room?

Post by Corey Y » Tue Feb 02, 2010 12:02 pm

It seems to be the conventional wisdom for live/drum rooms is:

1. Reflective floors (hardwood, cement, etc.)

2. Rug under the kit

3. Semi-treated walls

4. High/treated ceiling


So is the reflective floor really necessary if you've got some liveliness from the walls and you're putting absorbing material under the kit anyway? I track in a warehouse with concrete floors and a high ceiling (~15 ft), with the drums on a 6ft x 5ft rug and I've been considering putting down some carpeting. Not wall to wall probably, but some pretty large pieces at least. Really if for no other reason than to make it easier to keep clean, if it doesn't hurt anything to do it. I drape cables all over the concrete floor, they get dirty and I end up having to wipe down all my cables on a regular basis or wash my hands every time I touch them. I'm not really a neat freak, but it's a bit much. It would certainly be more convenient to have carpet that I can vacuum as opposed to a big concrete floor I have to sweep mop with limited effectiveness.

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JWL
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Post by JWL » Tue Feb 02, 2010 12:14 pm

They aren't necessary. I just find it sounds better more often than not to have reflective floors and high (and/or absorbent) ceilings.

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the finger genius
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Post by the finger genius » Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:05 pm

vvv wrote:
That said, what I'm gettin' at is, perfectionism is for the truly defective.

You may quote me.
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Post by sound for sandwiches » Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:05 pm

If you don't want to sacrifice the reflectivity of the floor, you could always seal the concrete. Either opaque paint, or they make clear sealers as well. Unsealed concrete will just continue to emit dust practically forever.

Corey Y
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Post by Corey Y » Tue Feb 02, 2010 2:01 pm

sound for sandwiches wrote:If you don't want to sacrifice the reflectivity of the floor, you could always seal the concrete. Either opaque paint, or they make clear sealers as well. Unsealed concrete will just continue to emit dust practically forever.
I have seriously considered doing this, either way. It would definitely be labor intensive and time consuming, but it might be worth it. I've been looking at some different products to see what might work best.

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JWL
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Post by JWL » Tue Feb 02, 2010 2:54 pm

Staining a concrete floor (assuming you have an empty room) might be less labor than installing a hardwood floor, for instance.

Corey Y
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Post by Corey Y » Tue Feb 02, 2010 3:32 pm

There's labor involved no matter what, since the room isn't empty. Sealing the concrete is definitely a lot more budget friendly than putting in a new floor though. I can still put down carpets after that if I like and it will be a lot easier to clean.

I'm reorganizing and cleaning the entire space this weekend. So I'll have an idea of how much of a pain in the butt it's going to be to empty the room out. Depending on how long that takes I may look into doing the sealer soon, if not then.

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Post by sound for sandwiches » Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:16 pm

If you use an epoxy paint designed for concrete floors, move all your stuff to one side of the room, paint that side. 24 hours later, you move everything onto the painted side and paint the other side. those epoxy paints dry fast and can take traffic very quickly.

Positionable carpets can be useful and attractive, but if you don't seal the floor underneath, the fine dust will creep up through the fabric, and billow up when you move the carpets, and you'll still have dirty cables.

I have sealed many conc floors, and it goes pretty fast. Don't bother with roller pans, just pour out pools of paint about the size of a dinner plate as you go, not all at once, use a 1/2 or 3/4 nap roller and a 6 foot handle, and don't use very much downward pressure. spread out the puddles until you have an even surface. Don't forget to work towards the door!

One thing, if you have big cracks in the floor, like more than 1/8" wide, you'll probably need to fill them before you seal, otherwise dust will emit from them even after you apply the sealer. there are a few different products out there for that as well.

cheers
David

Corey Y
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Post by Corey Y » Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:47 pm

I started looking into all the detailed how-to's for it and the various products today. Thanks for the tips.

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