My wife and I built out our unfinished basement for our kids (1.5, 4, 7) to play during COVID winter. We built a climbing, wall, a couple swings, a ball pit, etc. To avoid injuries we need to install some type of floor. We currently have a few carpets but they don't provide any impact protection and there is lots of bare concrete floor. I'm looking at 600-800 SF to cover, the walls are the standard plastic backed insulation nailed/taped to the walls.
We have a repurpose/recycle yard here in Denver that has astro turf from football fields, my wife vehemently opposed that idea. I have 3/4" rubber floor on the other side of the basement where my home gym is set up, but that stuff isn't much softer than concrete and stinks of rubber for weeks after install.
I found carpet squares on Craigslist (office type carpet), I am considering those on top of a thick carpet pad. I could also get normal carpet wholesale, but I am concerned about it staying flat if we are not going to tie it to the floor like it should be.
Anyone have experience/ideas on a cheap solution? It doesn't have to be perfect, just functional.