Installing Carpet over hardwood floor

[Drbjr]

I have hardwood flooring in 3 bedrooms which is in pretty good condition.
A couple coats of polyurethane and they are as good as new. My question
is: If I had wall-to-wall carpeting installed over the hardwood floors,
will that damage them to the point where they would have to be re-done. I
am reluctant to put carpeting down in for fear of decreasing the value of
the house. On the other hand carpeting would protect the floors from
children, and would feel much better at night to bare feet.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[Helen N. Lovisek]

Drbjr (dr...@aol.com) wrote:
: I have hardwood flooring in 3 bedrooms which is in pretty good condition.

I recently bought a house and removed the carpeting and underpad. The
oak hardwood floors underneath was OK everywhere except the hall. They
had used staples and carpet tack strips to hold the carpet in place along
the edges and in the closet. (Carpet tack strips are strips of wood with
tacks along the edge.) I had to use a pry bar to remove the strips and
pliers to remove the staples. It left hundreds of tiny holes in the floor.

The underpad in the hall was made of different material than the rest of
the house - it was multicoloured pieces. I had to scrape it off the floor.
I also used a mix of vinegar and water to help dissolve the parts that
didn't scrape off.

Besides being a messy, time consuming job, the end result was a splotchy
floor (not all the underpad residue came off, and/or the urethane was
damaged).

I'm currently using small (3 x 4 ft) "bathroom" carpet in the bedroom to
avoid cold floors. The carpet has a latex backing and hasn't harmed the
floor.

So my advice is be careful what underpad you use.

[Lance Hill]

Wall-to-wall carpet is held in place by tack strips nailed into the
floor around the edges of the room. Then the pad gets stapled into place
throughout the floor.

My 70 year old house has the original, never finished, hardwood
flooring. Besides the nail holes around the edges, it has staples all
over the place which are scraped off with every new carpet installation.
Needless to say, to try to finish this flooring is impossible.

Best compromise is to buy some large pieces of plush carpet (remnants
are cheaper), have them hemmed then backed with a non-slip piece of
rubber whatchamacallit. This makes a nice soft, thick, throw rug. Make
absolutely sure the non-slip pad is compatible with your finish.
Sometimes the rubber and finish 'weld' together over the years and ruins
both.

Lance

[Brian Peppel]

I just removed carpeting from my HW floor. The installer stapled down
the pad and nailed a tackless around the edge to fasten the carpet in
place. The installer had gone nutzo when installing the pad. My wife and
I spend many hours removing staples from the HW floor. Also, some of the
staples had rusted because of som etype of spill that got them wet. BTW,
I didn't have the carpet installed it was there when I bought the house.
Anyway, to make a long story short. we were delighted that a HW floor
wass hidden away under a nasty carpet and are pleased at the results of
our labor in refinishing the floor.

I would NEVER recomend install wall to wall carpet over HW floors. If I
really wanted carpet I would either 1) buy a wall to wall carpet and
have it cut a couple of inches smaller then the room. Have the carpet
eople then bind the edge. Another advantage of this is that you may be
able to turn the carpet and even out the wear. or 2) I would get an area
rug. (I guess 1) is technically an area rug too.

Have fun and dont ruin your floors.

-pep...@pond.comm

[Brian Peppel]

I just removed carpeting from my HW floor. The installer stapled down
the pad and nailed a tackless around the edge to fasten the carpet in
place. The installer had gone nutzo when installing the pad. My wife and
I spend many hours removing staples from the HW floor. Also, some of the

staples had rusted because of some type of spill that got them wet. BTW,

I didn't have the carpet installed it was there when I bought the house.
Anyway, to make a long story short. we were delighted that a HW floor

was hidden away under a nasty carpet and are pleased at the results of

our labor in refinishing the floor.

I would NEVER recommend install wall to wall carpet over HW floors. If I

really wanted carpet I would either 1) buy a wall to wall carpet and
have it cut a couple of inches smaller then the room. Have the carpet

people then bind the edge. Another advantage of this is that you may be

able to turn the carpet and even out the wear. or 2) I would get an area
rug. (I guess 1) is technically an area rug too.

Have fun and don't ruin your floors.

[Matt Verrochi]

On 21 Jul 1997 14:29:39 GMT, dr...@aol.com (Drbjr) wrote:

>I have hardwood flooring in 3 bedrooms which is in pretty good condition.
>A couple coats of polyurethane and they are as good as new. My question
>is: If I had wall-to-wall carpeting installed over the hardwood floors,
>will that damage them to the point where they would have to be re-done. I
>am reluctant to put carpeting down in for fear of decreasing the value of
>the house. On the other hand carpeting would protect the floors from
>children, and would feel much better at night to bare feet.

There *was* carpet in our hallway, over the oak. Apparently, they nailed it
along the edges and didn't use 2.3 million nails so there weren't a lot of
holes (they got sealed over and vanished when we redid - I think the sawdust
filled them for me). I would think it'd be important for the installer to know
you want MINIMAL damage to the hardwood floors done during installation. Even
if you don't use the company to do the rug, start by talking to a place that
does "Floor Coverings" (i.e. also hardwood, not just carpet) so they'll know
how to get around the "save my existing fllor as much as possible" that the
carpet installer may not know.

Matt

Verrochi AT tiac DOT net

RC Cars, Parts and Equipment for sale at:
http://www.tiac.net/users/verrochi/RCSALE.htm