Basement Development & Associated Costs

[SeeGeeWhy]

I'm looking to dampen the noise and vibration from dropping heavy weights on the floor (200lbs from overhead, 500 lbs from waist height, multiple 100 - 250 lbs people jumping onto boxes, etc). I've got to build on top of what I believe is 2" of concrete poured on top of a steel composite structure.

The standard rubber matting on top of whatever floor exists in combination with using bumper plates for weight will very likely not be enough. In consulting with similar applications, we were directed to putting this type of floor down as a base:

http://www.connorsportcourt.com/down...ts/neoshok.pdf

It appears to be a standard gymnasium type floor, but it's my guess that this is very expensive to both purchase and have installed (I believe it requires a specialist to design and install the right mix of rubber discs in the proper configuration).

Has anyone every had experience and success with putting down this kind of floor for this purpose? What about success with less expensive alternatives?

I'm thinking a well-built subfloor with insulating material underneath thick rubber might be enough...

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by KTrain

That's what I used for my subfloor and it was super easy to lay down. I did it by myself and it wasn't too difficult.

I have the same stuff for my basement laminate and it worked well. Surprising the laminate isn't all that cold thus far in the winter!

[tvp2003]

I've ordered some Delta-FL subfloor (i.e. the waffle membrane that speede posted), and will cover that with some 3/4" OSB. The plan is to put carpet overtop, with an extra-thick underlay (just because I like that soft feeling under me feet -- it'll be used for a "playroom" area).

However, there is this one area just at the bottom of the stairs where there is a noticeable "peak" in the concrete. Don't know if this is just how they poured it; is there a way to "grind" or "sand" down this high spot? I'd prefer not to pour an inch of self-levelling concrete just to get rid of this one spot...

[stang]

See I'm not sure if I want a subfloor yet... We built the house 4 years ago, the floors level. The basement walls are Insulated Concrete Form. It's 1560 sq ft of wide open square space.

I have the basement planned so all my supports are hidden. The roof is just a shade under 9' concrete to floor joist.

[stang]

Originally Posted by speede5

He'll have to cut his studs anyway, it would make way more sense to put the subfloor in first.

What were you planning for a subfloor Stang? I just did a suite for a friend and for a subfloor they used 3/4 osb over that waffle membrane. If your floor is pretty flat it is way cheaper than the dri-core. You can do a whole basement in a few hours this way. If you frame first every wall breaks your drainage paths.

What's that stuff called and where did you get it?

[Knalus]

Originally Posted by stang

What's that stuff called and where did you get it?

And how much did it cost?

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

When framing, remember to use pressure treated wood for your bottom plates (the wood touching the cement floor).

The green pressure treated lumber is NOT for indoor use, what you want is BluWood. Or you can use cedar. Most contractors use regular lumbar and a sill gasket.

[speede5]

http://www.superseal.ca/

Any building store can get it or a like product. Just ask for dimpled membrane, and we just used the stuff for walls.

[Knalus]

Originally Posted by zamler

The green pressure treated lumber is NOT for indoor use, what you want is BluWood. Or you can use cedar. Most contractors use regular lumbar and a sill gasket.

Yes, it is for indoor use.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Knalus

Yes, it is for indoor use.

The potential health risks (if any) aside, no. Green PT lumber often shrinks, sometimes as much as 20%. Unless you have pre-dried the lumber you may end up with shrinking/warping issues. Also regular fasteners can corrode when in contact with the wood. Can you use it and be fine? Yes, but there is potential for problems, so to do the job correctly it is best to just avoid the material.

edit - Use appropriate fasteners. Triple-galvanized or stainless steel is needed for all copper-treated woods including ACQ-B, ACQ-C, ACQ-D, CBA-A, and CA-B.

[Northendzone]

So my neighbour is building his cave, and he was hoping to slide 12 foot sheets of drywall thru his basement window.

The window in question is a one pane slider. The other pane seems fixed with no obvious way to remove it. There appear to be no screws or anything holding the window in place to the frame.

If this helps the house is in new Brighton and it is 10 years old. There appear to be no markings on the window to suggest a brand name.

Anyone have any thoughts on how to remove the pane without breaking it. His stairwell winds so getting anything more than 8 foot sheets thru the stairs seems out of the question.

[surferguy]

Cut the drywall in half

[AMG_G]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

So my neighbour is building his cave, and he was hoping to slide 12 foot sheets of drywall thru his basement window.

The window in question is a one pane slider. The other pane seems fixed with no obvious way to remove it. There appear to be no screws or anything holding the window in place to the frame.

If this helps the house is in new Brighton and it is 10 years old. There appear to be no markings on the window to suggest a brand name.

Anyone have any thoughts on how to remove the pane without breaking it. His stairwell winds so getting anything more than 8 foot sheets thru the stairs seems out of the question.

Did you check all windows? One of my windows have a fixed side and the other both can be removed. I thought this was the norm? Nothing worse than going up and down stairs 50 times with drywall.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

The window in question is a one pane slider. The other pane seems fixed with no obvious way to remove it. There appear to be no screws or anything holding the window in place to the frame.

The other pane should be easy to pop out of the frame with a thin prybar you can pop the vinylstops off, but the centre bar is probably welded to the outer frame so our probably screwed.

Edit:

You need one of these to remove the stops. If you look around the inner side of the frame you will seee that the molding agaisnt the glass is removable. Problem is the main frame is probably one unit. There are sliders where both side come out, but that is usually a more expensive unit.

[Northendzone]

I don't know, the non-sliding pane seems to be attached to the frame. I will post a picture in lithe morning.

[Northendzone]

here is a picture of the window in question:

http://s1273.beta.photobucket.com/us...09529547406024

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by AMG_G

Nothing worse than going up and down stairs 50 times with drywall.

Ugh. This is what I had to do. 105 4x8s and 30 4x12s. I was stepping on my balls by the end of that workout (I did have one helper). The topper was that I over-estimated the walls and had to hump 25 sheets back up the stairs when it was done. Good times.

[Nyah]

Has anyone ever looked into or had a basement window enlarged to accomodate a bedroom? What are the costs? Our windows are too small so we either have to enlarge one or label the room a 'storage room' or 'office' to get a permit. We will be using the room as a guest room... and technically it will be another bedroom. Opinions?

[KTrain]

Russic did this last year. I'll direct him to this thread to answer for you.

[Russic]

In our place the builder was kind enough to build the window about 3" too small for the room to be designated as a bedroom. I could get into more specific detail, but cost was in the $2000 range (a friend of mine paid about $1600, so it can be cheaper). I may have spent more on the single window than the entire floor. The amount of light that now gets into the room is nice. Not $2000 nice, but nice.

It ends up being hellishly messy because the blade has a constant stream of water being poured on it, but the guys we hired did a good job of cleaning.