Carpet Removal & Floorboards?
Discussion
Need some advice on flooring chaps, moved into our new flat a year ago and inherited some lovely carpets in the bedroom and living room that while once upon a time must have been cream, have now taken on a lovely hairy shade of grey along with several nice stain marks. Most of the flat has been redecorated since we moved in and the plan has always been to replace these s
tty carpets with wooden flooring in the living room and new carpet in the bedroom as the rest of the flat has wooden flooring already although it needs a good sand and polish.
We’ve had to put it off due to the cost involved but recently it’s come to head with a flea problem which we think are clearly being nicely incubated in our delightfully manky carpet which is a distinctly unpleasant thought. We still can’t afford to splurge on having new floors fitted and last night the other half declared she’d had enough (the fleas have a taste for her blood) and wondered why we couldn’t just lift the carpet and use whatever is underneath which happens to be some fairly even floorboards. They appear to be acceptable enough and run through the whole flat although there is only them and the joists between us and our (empty) basement rooms.
Has anyone got any advice on this?
How easy is it to lift old carpets and bring floorboards up to a decent finish? And will it cause our flat to suddenly become catherdral like sound-wise with no carpet?
If we could do that, for the cost of a sander for a weekend and a bit of new off-cut to sort the bedroom out it would save us a bloody packet.
tty carpets with wooden flooring in the living room and new carpet in the bedroom as the rest of the flat has wooden flooring already although it needs a good sand and polish. We’ve had to put it off due to the cost involved but recently it’s come to head with a flea problem which we think are clearly being nicely incubated in our delightfully manky carpet which is a distinctly unpleasant thought. We still can’t afford to splurge on having new floors fitted and last night the other half declared she’d had enough (the fleas have a taste for her blood) and wondered why we couldn’t just lift the carpet and use whatever is underneath which happens to be some fairly even floorboards. They appear to be acceptable enough and run through the whole flat although there is only them and the joists between us and our (empty) basement rooms.
Has anyone got any advice on this?
How easy is it to lift old carpets and bring floorboards up to a decent finish? And will it cause our flat to suddenly become catherdral like sound-wise with no carpet?
If we could do that, for the cost of a sander for a weekend and a bit of new off-cut to sort the bedroom out it would save us a bloody packet.
MiniMan64 said:
Need some advice on flooring chaps, moved into our new flat a year ago and inherited some lovely carpets in the bedroom and living room that while once upon a time must have been cream, have now taken on a lovely hairy shade of grey along with several nice stain marks. Most of the flat has been redecorated since we moved in and the plan has always been to replace these stty carpets with wooden flooring in the living room and new carpet in the bedroom as the rest of the flat has wooden flooring already although it needs a good sand and polish.
We’ve had to put it off due to the cost involved but recently it’s come to head with a flea problem which we think are clearly being nicely incubated in our delightfully manky carpet which is a distinctly unpleasant thought. We still can’t afford to splurge on having new floors fitted and last night the other half declared she’d had enough (the fleas have a taste for her blood) and wondered why we couldn’t just lift the carpet and use whatever is underneath which happens to be some fairly even floorboards. They appear to be acceptable enough and run through the whole flat although there is only them and the joists between us and our (empty) basement rooms.
Has anyone got any advice on this?
How easy is it to lift old carpets and bring floorboards up to a decent finish? And will it cause our flat to suddenly become catherdral like sound-wise with no carpet?
If we could do that, for the cost of a sander for a weekend and a bit of new off-cut to sort the bedroom out it would save us a bloody packet.
Lifting the carpet is a breeze. Hire a good sander i.e. one like this http://www.floorsanderhire.com/sanders-package.php (go for package one and get a delta for tight corners if you want a really nice finish. It's not too messy either. Whatever you do don't go for a sander like this http://www.hss.com/?p=05429. Noisy, dusty and does a really poor job.tty carpets with wooden flooring in the living room and new carpet in the bedroom as the rest of the flat has wooden flooring already although it needs a good sand and polish. We’ve had to put it off due to the cost involved but recently it’s come to head with a flea problem which we think are clearly being nicely incubated in our delightfully manky carpet which is a distinctly unpleasant thought. We still can’t afford to splurge on having new floors fitted and last night the other half declared she’d had enough (the fleas have a taste for her blood) and wondered why we couldn’t just lift the carpet and use whatever is underneath which happens to be some fairly even floorboards. They appear to be acceptable enough and run through the whole flat although there is only them and the joists between us and our (empty) basement rooms.
Has anyone got any advice on this?
How easy is it to lift old carpets and bring floorboards up to a decent finish? And will it cause our flat to suddenly become catherdral like sound-wise with no carpet?
If we could do that, for the cost of a sander for a weekend and a bit of new off-cut to sort the bedroom out it would save us a bloody packet.
Get some decent floor finish (Bona for example).
It's a nice job to do...fairly easy, can be done over the weekend and really very satisfying. Take your time and keep it nice and smooth. All in shouldn't cost you much more than £100.
Get a rug or two down to improve sound proofing etc.
Interesting.
We own the ground floor flat and basement (currently an undeveloped storeroom, it's a project for the future) and upstaires is owned by someone else who makes enough noise in the bedroom alone for us to justify a weekend with a sander.
Sounds like it could be a goer you know....
We own the ground floor flat and basement (currently an undeveloped storeroom, it's a project for the future) and upstaires is owned by someone else who makes enough noise in the bedroom alone for us to justify a weekend with a sander.
Sounds like it could be a goer you know....
DavesFlaps said:
MiniMan64 said:
(empty) basement rooms.
Just saw this bit.YOu may get away with not being murdered in this case.
A useful piece of advice is to have a look into floorboard gap (if they are not already tongue & groove) insulation as you will freeze with the draft coming through in the winter.
prand said:
DavesFlaps said:
MiniMan64 said:
(empty) basement rooms.
Just saw this bit.YOu may get away with not being murdered in this case.
A useful piece of advice is to have a look into floorboard gap (if they are not already tongue & groove) insulation as you will freeze with the draft coming through in the winter.
duncancallum said:
MiniMan64 said:
Interesting.
who makes enough noise in the bedroom alone for us to justify a weekend with a sander.Sounds like it she could be a goer you know....
EFAwho makes enough noise in the bedroom alone for us to justify a weekend with a sander.Sounds like it she could be a goer you know....
...Dunc, you are quite welcome to listen to the two eldely gentlemen boxing confectionary above my flat all you want.
There's several ways of doing it.
- Slicing fillets of wood, wedging/glueing in, sanding back and varnishing (good for wider gaps)
- Saving sawdust form initial sanding, mixing with PVA or other filler, then filling gaps, (best for smaller gaps, stick newspaper nown first for big gaps), sanded back then varnished
Both the above can be affected by the flex, swelling and contracting of the boards, and is pretty fiddly to put in and get to look right, and repair.
I opted to do my living rom with: http://www.stopg-p.co.uk/order.html
Which despite being expensive for what is essentially flexible plastic strip, is very quick and easy to install and looks pretty good. I am waiting for the winter to come along to see if it makes a difference to the insulation in the room.
Also there is: http://www.draughtex.co.uk/
Which also might be worth a look.
- Slicing fillets of wood, wedging/glueing in, sanding back and varnishing (good for wider gaps)
- Saving sawdust form initial sanding, mixing with PVA or other filler, then filling gaps, (best for smaller gaps, stick newspaper nown first for big gaps), sanded back then varnished
Both the above can be affected by the flex, swelling and contracting of the boards, and is pretty fiddly to put in and get to look right, and repair.
I opted to do my living rom with: http://www.stopg-p.co.uk/order.html
Which despite being expensive for what is essentially flexible plastic strip, is very quick and easy to install and looks pretty good. I am waiting for the winter to come along to see if it makes a difference to the insulation in the room.
Also there is: http://www.draughtex.co.uk/
Which also might be worth a look.
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