Flooring for the train room; carpet or pergo?

[Lateral-G]

The new train room is nearing completion. I'll have to install flooring soon. I need to make a choice and have narrowed it down to carpet or pergo (faux wood floor).

What are some of your guys' thoughts?

 

BTW...the room dims are 11'x14' 

 

-G- 

[ARTHILL]

I have carpet. It was laid when the room was my wife's music studio, but I love it. It is harder to find little parts, but it is so noice to walk on and clean up.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I also have a faux wood floor covering (parquet pattern). After I had a loco take a fall onto it I put down a carpet.

[ramoutandabout]

my vote is for carpet! warmer and easier to stand on for long periods

 

Ray

[Anonymous]

Depends....

I have carpet and after being on my feet for a few hours I am glad I have it.  BUT my layout does not have legs - it is bolted to the walls.

If you plan to have benchwork with legs then carpet may not be a wise choice.  I would use t-bolts for adjustable leg levelers but I would still be concerned about a little "bounce." 

If you are using legs then I would think about going with a laminate floor (i.e. Pergo) and then buy a good carpet to go down the aisleways.  Your carpet store can provide you with a carpet with an integrated pad. Carpet by itself does not provide much comfort, you need a pad too.

-John

 

[jwar]

I went with an office type carpet with underpadding. Its cheeper then regular carpet and has a tight weave that does'nt hide small parts. Overall it has held up excellent and not concerned about leg indentions. I will replace it if I ever move. In use for five years and it has had some heavy use (garage is through the train room)and has a very slight traffic pattern in it now. I went with a multi speckeled brown patters, sounds weird, but does not hid those small parts when dropped on it. 

If you do go with carpet, be sure to use the right type for the flooring you have...John

[dale8chevyss]

Since I have a cement floor, it's difficult for me to go with experience here (but at least I have room for the trains.)  Pros of carpet:  Warmer, absorbs accidental droppage.  Pergo pros:  Lasts longer, can look better (if you prefer hardwood floor) can use a rolling office chair easier, easier to clean up if you spill something on it.  I would probably choose the carpet myself for that plushy comfort inviting feeling. 

[loathar]

I've thought about carpet, but thought about using high quality carpet squares. Easier to replace sections in case of bad spills.

[dehusman]

Buy the best pad you can afford and a medium grade carpet.  Something that has a tight weave or is designed for commercial use.  The cushioning is in the pad. 

If you go with laminate flooring, figure you will be buying those rubber flooring squares to put in the aisles to walk on.

Dave H.

[Lateral-G]

Thanks for the input.

The current floor is basement concrete. I know either way I go will require an under layer. The other finished areas of the basement have berber carpet (my office, oldest kid's room)  and I agree it's nice on the feet if you have to stand for any period of time. Finding tiny, dropped parts is a PITA (the carpet monster loves to rear it's ugly head). It'll also be cheaper to carpet the room vs. a laminate floor. But then again I love the look of a laminate floor.

Most likely the layout will be mounted to the wall and have to have legs for the peninsula (haven't quite het figured out how to canteliever a 7 foot long by 3 1/2 wide span )

Decisions, decisions............

 

-G-

[jbinkley60]

 

I put down a short pile carpet over the basement floor.  My 11'x12' layout is on wheels and I can roll it, if needed, on the carpet.  Worst case, if I ever dismantle the layout, I'd be looking at replacing a few yards of carpet.  The only downside is lost screws and small parts but having the padding is great when you crawl under the layout during construction.

 

[Driline]

I've thought about carpet, but thought about using high quality carpet squares. Easier to replace sections in case of bad spills.

I checked into that as well. Very expensive though. So I will be going with commerical grade low pile carpeting over my cement floor. I am waiting though until most of my "sloppy" work is done.

[nbrodar]

I have carpet and love it. It's foot friendly and looks nice, although, it can be a tad difficult to clean up spills and construction debris.  Drop cloths eliminate most of it, but somehow I little bit of stuff always ends up on the carpet.

The only thing I'd do different is use a shorter pile/tighter weave type, but hey, the room was already carpeted, so I'm not complaining too much.

Nick

 

[pcarrell]

Yet another vote for carpet.  It's nice and soft to stand on for longer periods of time, and it's a nice sound deadener too.  On top of that, it gives a very "finished" appearence to the room.

[OldStone]

I went for the dense, low pile, commercial type carpet.  If you drop small parts on it....lay a flashlight on it so the beam is going almost parallel with the surface and swing it around slowly.  This will usually highlight the little bugger.

[shayfan84325]

I have carpet, and I don't like it because I lose stuff in it and spills are a problem.  I really dislike pergo, because it's noisy and little stuff bounces forever.  The pattern in pergo can make it tough to find small stuff.  I think I'd lean toward linoleum in a nearly patternless style.

[ham99]

I had carpet and just recently tore it out.  Carpet is dirty, stains easily, and melts under dropped solder.  Impossible to find small dropped parts.  I installed the interlocking tile and really like it.  It can be taken up again if necessary without damaging it, individual tiles can be replaced, and it's easier on the feet than my [no pad] indoor/outdoor carpet was.  It is a bit noisier to walk on.  I also removed the padded carpeting from my computer room [office] where it was hiding the solid oak flooring.  I'd take it out of the rest of the house, but my wife would shoot me. 

[tomikawaTT]

At the moment, my layout room floor is sealed concrete, with some strips of 'seconds and ends' carpet and a few 'in-house reject' throw rugs on it.

Hard surfaces are NOT falling-model friendly!  Nor are they comfortable to stand on for any length of time.  Just bringing in that first throw rug almost doubled my 'work in one place' time.

IMHO, Pergo and a soft underlayment has the foot-comfort advantage of carpet, and the hard surface disadvantage of inflexibility when impacted by a falling brass locomotive.

Just my .  Other opinions may differ.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[Mike B]

When we bought this house four years ago I selected a small spare bedroom for my new layout room (no basements in Texas).  It already had carpeting installed but I had it ripped out and had a ceramic tile floor installed which is very common in this area.  After the tile was installed it was "sealed" with a clear finish.  I did not want to be searching for small parts dropped on carpet or worrying about paint or glue spills during benchwork construction.  The tile has worked out very well for me, I have dropped many heavy tools and have had the tool damaged but never the tile.  If I drip glue or paint a rag wipes it up if still wet.  If I don't see the spill when it happens I can still get it off the tile with some cleaner and elbow grease.  I am a very klutzy carpenter so I would worry about the Pergo denting if you dropped anything heavy on it.

Mike B.

[jbone]

JBinkley60 - What is the material you have shown in the photos labelled - Construction is in high gear on the under layout additional staging area. This is from your website. Is it some type of foam insulation? The reason I ask is that I have a few rolls of this foam wrap and it looks like it would make great bedding that would be very easy to use. The downside could be that it would "give" everytime a train ran over it. It would also be great at reducing noise. Thanks  -   John

 

 

[jbinkley60]

JBinkley60 - What is the material you have shown in the photos labelled - Construction is in high gear on the under layout additional staging area. This is from your website. Is it some type of foam insulation? The reason I ask is that I have a few rolls of this foam wrap and it looks like it would make great bedding that would be very easy to use. The downside could be that it would "give" everytime a train ran over it. It would also be great at reducing noise. Thanks  -   John

It is Woodland Scenics Trackbed foam sheets.  It is a dense foam.  The same foam I use for the roadbed, just sheets for yards and similar large areas.  It isn't economical for very large areas but was about $20-25 for the new section.

 

[dadret]

Since my layout is in the basement on a concrete floor I used 12 x 12 peel and stick tiles in a wood like finish - its cheap and can be easily added to as your layout gets bigger

[BurbankAV]

One more voice here -- I'm a serious klutz, especially with small parts (say, track spikes!)  When I took ownership of the spare bedroom that is now the train room, it was carpeted, but I know I'm going to drop spikes, and then use the "pedal recovery system."  (Easily identified by the use of four-letter words, followed by removal of a sharp object from the sole of one's foot.  )

So I covered the carpet with 3/8" masonite.  This also seems to reduce the "floating" of the few legs that my layout has.  Once I've gotten past the sawdust stage, I've got some of those interlocking shop pads to cover the central working area (my equivalent of aisleways...)

I'm not sure, but I'm hoping that I've got the best of both worlds...

Peter

 

[mobilman44]

Hi,

My layout room is about the same as yours, and I opted for the carpet.  However, I covered it with two layers of heavy plastic to keep it from getting messed up during the benchwork thru plaster phase of construction.  At that point, I removed it and have a pretty decent carpet as a result.  The carpet - to me - is preferable as it is easier on the feet, and stuff doesn't break as easily when it lands on the carpet.  On the down side, small parts hide in it and it is a bit harder to vacuum as opposed to mop/sweep.

Hey, whatever you do is great, and congratulations on the train room!!!

Mobilman44

[Sturgeon-Phish]

My trainroom is an unused spare bedroom with hardwood floors.  I prefer the wood over carpet.  Easier to clean.  The layout rolls easily. When you are under the layout there are no carpet burns.  We only have carpet in the upstairs hall and steps to the second floor, that would come out if mine was the only vote.

Jim

[Medina1128]

My vote is for the carpet with a good pad. I have found numerous small parts by vacuuming with a piece of panty hose stretched over the shop vac hose.