Loveland, CO
I considered carpeting my new game room, but was spooked by my former room in IL that was carpeted - and trashed - four times in 12 years due to water damage. Although I moved to much higher ground in Colorado, it still left a bad taste in my mouth. So, I decided to try something new. Landed on a "polyaspartic" coated concrete with pure metallic fill. It starts out with machining the concrete with a diamond tipped sanding machine to scuff and flatten the surface. Then, a black binding material was applied. Once set, the poly two-part coating is blended with aluminum powder (my choice in colors) and applied using a trowel. Next, while the surface is setting, acetone is applied to various sections using a sprayer. This gives the surface a floating, cloud effect.
I was concerned about the cold floor potential, but found a fix. My area is big in Radon gas in basements, so I had to put in a Radon mitigation system. This consists of a vacuum pump in the attic, and a 4 in. PVC pipe that starts at the pea gravel under the concrete floor. It runs continuously and siphons air from under the concrete to outside the roof of the house. The effect turns out to be a comfortably warm floor all winter. Although I can still use area rugs and runners in front of the pins, I really don't feel the need for that. Except maybe if you're spending a lot of time standing, it might be desirable to stay off the concrete.
Low odor, and fully set in 24 hours. Although the process cost about twice what carpeting would have cost, the effect is stunning and it's the first comment people visiting make. Blacked out the ceiling with 36 gallons of flat black latex/primer combo and it works great.
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