Carpeting question

[Mad Maximus]

We have a small office/utilty/not sure yet that we are going to carpet however the floor is a mess. It’s concrete and lumpy. Few mm here few mm there on edges of a few self leveling repairs. It’s a long story. We may tear it all up in the future for underfloor heating but in the meantime is there an underlay option to hide the ribs and jibs?

I was thinking cheap vinyl then underlay then carpet. Any ideas or experience welcome. I’m looking for a bodge at the moment I’m not doing concreting or self leveling.

[SteBrown91]

A decent thick underlay should hide 95% of it. Chisel off any obviously high lumps.

Our dining room floor is shocking and a thick underlay masked the majority of it.

[S6PNJ]

one of these sort of things on an angle grinder? and some time of your own?


Oh and don't forget the dust mask / filter / goggles / ear defs etc

Did I mention they were noisy and dusty?

[DonkeyApple]

Mad Maximus said:

We have a small office/utilty/not sure yet that we are going to carpet however the floor is a mess. It’s concrete and lumpy. Few mm here few mm there on edges of a few self leveling repairs. It’s a long story. We may tear it all up in the future for underfloor heating but in the meantime is there an underlay option to hide the ribs and jibs?

I was thinking cheap vinyl then underlay then carpet. Any ideas or experience welcome. I’m looking for a bodge at the moment I’m not doing concreting or self leveling.

I've found that with lumps and bumps they will come through the underlay. It might be worth just knocking off the worst bumps and then using a trowel to skim an appropriate filler just to smooth off the worst.

[OutInTheShed]

Hardboard or thin ply?

[DonkeyApple]

Underlay won't hide the lumps well at all. Best to grind the worst off and then skim hollows with an appropriate filler. Doesn't take long to do. If you don't want the mess of a grinder then a cold chisel may be sufficient.

[Simpo Two]

Or some of that latex goop you spread over.

[OldPal]

A proper high quality black crumb underlay will hide it but it’s expensive compared to other underlays.

A grind and a bit of feather finish could be all it needs

[Another project]

I reckon a good coat of self levelling compound will get you a nice finish and it's a lot cleaner than grinding off the high spots

[Simpo Two]

Another project said:

I reckon a good coat of self levelling compound will get you a nice finish and it's a lot cleaner than grinding off the high spots

That's the latex goop I was referring to. A nice smooth finish, but it doesn't self-level very well so (in my experience) needs some pushing around.

[OutInTheShed]

Another project said:

I reckon a good coat of self levelling compound will get you a nice finish and it's a lot cleaner than grinding off the high spots

It pays to understand the different requirements of Level vs Smooth.

You can be a long way off 'level' without having a problem.

[Mad Maximus]

Room is only 3 x 2m so could 2 or 3 mm the whole room to get it smooth ish but as it’s coming up at some point I don’t have it in me when I have other things to be getting on with.

[Mad Maximus]

[Mad Maximus]