John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hey Everyone,
I'm new to the forums so I'm sorry if this has been asked before. I searched around a while and couldn't find this specific question. My house already had a fully carpeted finished basement when I bought it so I haven't done much to treat it yet as I make it into a gradually more serious project studio. It has an 8 1/2' ceiling that is functionally 7' after the drop ceiling (standard home depot ceiling tiles). The floor today is a standard basement concrete slab with carpet and no other padding under it. The carpet has been damaged over time by our cats (man that smell is hard to get out of carpet) and my wife and I have decided to pull the carpet and put laminate floor down (about 650 sq ft).

I read in previous threads that I need some kind of padding down to protect from moisture and mold, but is there anything else I need to take into account for a better sound when we redo the floor? We've never had problems with moisture, flooding, or anything else like that.

My long term goal is to treat the basement acoustically based on the other great advice in this forum, but I can only take on this project one piece at a time beginning with the floor. I don't have to worry about sound "proofing" since my neighbors can't hear my band as is and my wife is cool with us being however loud we need to be (normal rock band loud, but we don't go to 11, heh) as long as it doesn't go unreasonably late. My budget for the floor will be around $1500 but we can go more if necessary and depending on the laminate flooring costs (I've been looking at some 2.00/sq ft flooring so far). I'd rather do it right in the long run to prepare for future sound treatments. Let me know if you need any pics, other dimensions, or further clarifications.

Sorry for the long wordy post and thanks in advance!
Shaun Malott

For this type project you can use nearly any floor covering (not carpet) you like, and just follow the manufacturer's recommendations for installing in a basement (they each may have slightly different needs for adhesive, etc)

If your ceiling tiles are 2x4 feet, you can replace some or all of them with thick rockwool batts (same size) to improve flutter echo between floor and ceiling; this will reduce the isolation to upstairs though, so you may want to consider doing an entirely different gypsum ceiling (higher, with resilient clips and absorption UNDER the gypsum) - in order to improve sound AND keep (or improve) isolation... Steve

Thanks for the response Steve! I'm taping down the plastic tonight to check for moisture but I'm assuming it isn't a problem since I've lived here two years with the carpet in the basement with no mold or moisture that I know of. I'm pretty sure the concrete was sealed when the guy that built the house put the carpet in, but it won't hurt to add any other moisture blockers before putting the floor in.

I'll also be sure to look into the ceiling. That's a great idea about the gypsum.