Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in southeast Virginia. The back of my garage is going to be a dedicated snakeroom. It's approximately 12x16 (10' ceiling) or so with a concrete floor.
I might opt to put some kind of flooring over the concrete, but cant decide what to use, if anything at all.

I dont have the option to build it up as the door has already been framed out and the room is insulated and drywalled.
Either a cheap roll of linoleum, or.....are there any other ideas? What would make sense? That green indoor/outdoor grass crap?

For temp control I plan to use a window AC unit or something similar, and for heating just a space heater of some kind.

I'm up for thoughts please....

My concern is basically this....will the bare 'crete cause any problems with temp control or moisture control?

I might have even asked this question a long time ago and forgot about it, so please forgive me

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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

For the benifits of radient floor heating I think I would just re-frame out the door. With a 10' ceiling you have plenty of room.

Otherwise linoleum works great, but tile has a considerable resale value over linoleum.

Best of Luck
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Sunglow "Khal" RTB **Coming Soon**
0.1 Snow "Khal" RTB **Coming Soon**
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.0.14 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.0.15 Normal Suriname Hybrid's
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
3.6.17 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child

>>Otherwise linoleum works great, but tile has a considerable resale value over linoleum.

Kinda unrelated, but tied in - I worked at Home Depot years ago and one time someone called in asking if, "Y'all sell any of that there magnoleum rug?"
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Matt Campbell

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir

If u want the floor to last u should probably use tile (and NOT vinyl tile). Its more durable, easier to clean and disinfect. While linoleum is cheaper...u'll probably only get 5 years max. out of it.

You've never heard of it? It's the carpet with pictures of large white aromatic flowers on it.
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Hi Tom!
I install floorcovering so maybe I can help in some way.

> > > "My concern is basically this....will the bare 'crete cause any problems with temp control or moisture control?"

The concrete will stay somewhat cooler than room temp, if any cages that aren't insulated on the bottom will be placed on the floor this will affect the cage's temps a little, probably 5 degrees or so at most.

As for moisture, humidity, the room will still pretty much be what it is today (low or high humidity), regardless of any type of floorcovering. In some cases sheet vinyl can help control high moisture by slowing it down a tad but it won't cure it. Good ventilation, air circulation is more of a factor than the floor.

Forget about the grass-type carpets, too hard to keep clean. Other than that, its basically just a matter of preferrence.

My reptile room is a former garage that's been enclosed. It has a painted floor and that's the way it's gonna stay. I love it. Easy to clean & take care, cheap & easy to repair. In situations where I need to place a quarrantine cage/tank on the floor I cut a piece of the blue insulation board and set the cage/tank on it to keep the floor from affecting its temps.

If you want a nice looking floor that's easy to clean go with sheet vinyl (sheet vinyl is what a lot of people call linoleum, even though its technically different).

If you decide to use carpet, that'll work just fine, too, its just not as easy to keep clean. For carpet you'll want to go with either an indoor/outdoor "level loop" or a commercial-style "level loop," like what's common in offices. The commercial will be a little cheaper.

Level Loop:
Level loop is carpet that each row in the carpet is a continuous-running string. Typical house carpet is "cut pile" or "plush," open ends instead of loops, on the surface.

If I were you I'd most likely loose-lay whatever you put in there. Makes it easy to replace. You'll have to secure the vinyl/carpet in the doorway or it will either curl up or unravel. Vinyl, whether loose-layed or glued, will need to have all edges secured, covered, by baseboard or quarter round to keep it from curling up over time. Carpet will lay flat regardless.

Catch ya later!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

What about that cement sealer that you paint on and then sprinkle the chips on it? I can't remember the name, but it's non-skid and it looks pretty decent, and it lasts a long time. It's also oil-resistant and you can get it wet without having to worry about falling on it. Not sure about offgas or anything like that though. And it's pretty inexpensive.
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0.2 Leopard Geckos (Fire and Mello)

How have you been, stranger?

Yeah, there are several different kinds of sealers/paint combo like that. I wouldn't recommend using them in this case because the rougher the surface, the harder to clean. That's one reason why they're not used in the kitchens of restaraunts.

Most of the floor paints have some texture built in to where they're not slick. The stuff you're talking about is made more for outdoor use, where it stands more of a chance of having standing water on it.

Later!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

In my humble opinion, linoleum looks cheesy in a garage but far better than Astroturf…unless you have pink Flamingos sticking out of it.

All kidding aside, I would go with an epoxy garage floor finish. It’s extremely durable, very washable, easy to apply, and cheep. If it starts to look bad, you don’t have to peel it up, you just repaint it. If you get creative, you can get two colors and put some sort of snake design in it, the car guys put finish flag patterns in it.

Cheep fast easy to apply and maintain= my two cents.

Many thanx for the reply! Good info to consider.

Carpet is out of the question. Maybe I'll go with sheet vinyl, if I can be sure a single roll will do the whole room. I tried a seam once, reluctantly, and it turned out to be a real pain.
I'll have to double check the room size and go from there with it.
Painting the floor is kind of out of the questiona also, as there have been a few different petroleum product spills I dont think I want to invest in cleaning before I go to paint.
Thanx again!

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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Heh, say you've had your fill of vinyl seams already, eh? Ha! I don't blame you.

Most rolls of vinyl are between 12ft. - 1/2in. to 12ft. - 1 1/2in. wide, from edge to edge. Just make sure you measure the furthest point of the room in both directions, which includes going from one wall to the point where the door is closed. Add 3in. to the width & length to allow for positioning and out of square walls. (If room measures 11ft, 6in in width and 13ft in length, the size vinyl needed is 11ft, 9in (W) x 13ft, 3in (L))

If you like the paint idea I'd look into what it would take to spot clean the oily areas. They may even be old enough not to affect some of the floor paints or it may not take as much work as thought. It's been awhile since I've looked at the floor paints & can't remember what all's out there as far as going over oil spills, etc... I'm thinking that some of the sealer/paint combos were pretty flexible in applications.

Give me a yell if you think I might can help you with anything else.

Later!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

Hey Tom,

There is an epoxy based paint for garage floors that is almost indestructible and looks good too. Not sure of cost, but this would be an option for a Long Term floor covering.

for heating just a space heater of some kind.

My snake room is in my garage and I use radiant heaters, which are basically expensive space heaters.

If the space heater you'll use will primarily produce radiant heat then I would suggest doing something like what I did. I basically took PT 2x4's and nailed them face-side-down to the concrete. I then cut foil-faced polyiso insulation board to fit between them. I used 1" thick insulation board so that there ended up being a 1/2" air space between the foil face and the 3/4" plywood sub-floor I put down. I used a cheap vinyl floor over the plywood.

With radiant heat this really helps insulate the room and eliminates any floor-to-ceiling temperature differential. With just a small fan circulating air I have about 1* temp difference on the floor compared to the ceiling.

A couple regrets:

1) My garage floor slopes and my ceilings are fairly tall (although not as tall as yours) and I wish I had basically shimmed and framed out a full floor with 2x4's stood on their sides, rather than laying flat. I could have had an air space on both sides of the insulation board and it would have cost the same and provided more insulation without spending any more $$. And my floor would be level, which it is not currently.

2) I bought inexpensive vinyl flooring that lays flat and does not require adhesive. It looks nice but is a pain to clean compared to other vinyl floors I have had. Major regret there.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Malaysian locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

Yes, now I remember. I DID have this kind of conversation before, but it was about climate control and I remember you and I going back and forth a bit about the RHP.
The flooring you did is an interesting tidbit to chew on. It only raises the floor, say....2.25" ? I figure a 1.5 for the 2x4 on it's face, and 3/4" flooring?

It just occurred to me that since I live in an area that has flooded my garage 3 times in the last 5 years, I need to consider flooring thats compatible with that, as well as a door that will tolerate the flooding too. Eff'n YAY. I feel a bit daft for omitting that thought until just now.

So, maybe paint will be the only way I'm gonna do this.

I was given a 5 gal bucket of concrete floor sealer free. Maybe I should just use that.
Did I mention I hate my house?

All my electrical has been run above the flood line, so hopefully that'll hold up. With two rows of shelving for all the cages and tanks, I'll need to keep the hots on the top row too.
Man, I wanna sell my junk now...... Now I'm depressed.
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Exactly... 1.5" for the 2x4 on it's side and 3/4" for T&G plywood subfloor.

Floods... bummer. I lost just about everything I owned in a flood several years ago now, including an incubator full of valuable eggs and a large collection of herpetology books.

That changes things. I would consider leaving the concrete floor as is and maybe putting down some sort of temporary floor that can be replaced.

I knew a guy over in Europe who put down a layer of high density expanded Polystyrene insulation. Said he planned to put vinyl flooring over it but ended up walking on it plain for a few years before he moved out of the house.

I think the most dense expanded polystyrene sold as insulation is Foamular 250. There would be code and fire concerns with having on the floor uncovered and that would be a nightmare to clean anyways. You might look into code in your area and find out what is appropriate.

In fact I would do that regardless. I know in areas with more moisture you can't do what I did with the foil-faced polyiso due to moisture concerns.

One thing you should do right away is to tape a large piece of plastic down to your garage floor for a few days. Make sure the tape makes good seal. Pull the plastic up and check for any condensation. If you have condensation then your choices will be limited somewhat.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Malaysian locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

I agree with Chris in that "flooding" changes things.

Chris' subflooring is nice, I like it, but I don't think it's a good idea in flood areas. It would be heck to get dried out if it were to get flooded and the likelihood of mold & mildew is too great.

If you go with vinyl you're lookin' at 21.33 square yards needed to do that room (12 x 16). For a cheap grade of vinyl figure about $6 per sq. yd. for a total of $128, each time it floods.

I'm tempted to say, "Looks like it's time to break out that 5-gal bucket of sealer." Depends on your preferrence of looks, whether it's a clear sealer or has paint/coloring in it.

Usually, if the concrete is holding moisture you can crank up a heater & dry it out enough to get it coated.

Don't let it get to ya too bad, we all have to make adjustments to our "perfect" herp room or caging plans due to existing circumstances or things beyond our control. Ain't nuthin' but a thang!

Hang in there!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

Thanx HH for the help, info and support too LOL!!!
and also to Chris the other folks who put in their 2 cents worth.
Maybe I'll shoot a quick video this weekend and post it up here, showing the room layout and the cages and tank I intend to put in there.

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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

>>Man, I wanna sell my junk now...... Now I'm depressed.

I feel that, if I didn't live in such a remote area, and I could ditch my collection I think I would. I at least break even in my other hobby!

Damn Lizards!
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Sunglow "Khal" RTB **Coming Soon**
0.1 Snow "Khal" RTB **Coming Soon**
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.0.14 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.0.15 Normal Suriname Hybrid's
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
3.6.17 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child