I'm looking at a house to buy in a Houston suburb built about 8 years ago which has nice wood floor in the living room. I was wondering if wanted to install wall to wall carpeting over the wood floor, will that be harmful to the wood floor say 10 years later? Any gotchas to watch for if I decided to do this? I suppose I might have to have a door or two adjusted for the carpet.
Well, at a minimum you'll have holes along the walls where they'll nail down the tack strips and holes through the field where they'll staple down the pad.
Age old advice often associated with this type of question:
Do what will make you (and SWMBO) comfortable for the next 10 years.
If you really like wall-to-wall carpeting, then put it in and worry about the hardwood floors later. Life's too short to deny yourselves the comfort of carpeting if that's what you really want.
I really didn't go into detail. I'm thinking of renting this home out at least to begin with and would not allow pets. I just wondered tho if the carpet covering the wood might cause the wood to dry out after say 10 years or so... or some other such stuff. I never did anything like this before tho I know it can be done. Just never heard what happened to the wood flooring.
Have you considered how much damage 10 years worth of tenants will do to the hardwood floor?
I will say that if something spills on the carpet and is not completely dried quickly, odds are that there will be damage to the floor's finish.
I've seen it happen with a large potted plant that sat in the corner for years. The carpet looked fine but there was a white circle - completely filled in - on the floor below it when the carpet was pulled.
I want to try to consider all scenarios. Almost sounds better to not carpet it and take my chances with scuff marks, etc... . Thanks DerbyDad for the enlightening.
If you're going to rent the house, why go to the expense of carpeting it?
Either way, the renters will find a way to mess it up! We rent out the place we used to live in. Has nice oak hardwood floors in part, nice old growth fir floors in part and carpet in part. Renters have managed to mess up all at various times. You can't win!
Most of the carpet is over old fir flooring. Renters let dogs run in the house when they weren't home. Only one dog was allowed. Never imagined they would have two big suckers. Poop and pee everywhere. Had to replace all carpet and coat all wood floor under carpet with KILLS to contain the stink. Then new pad and carpet. Renters never cleaned anything. Evicted.
The fir flooring seemed to fair the best. Oak stained pretty bad, but sanded a lot of it out and refinished the bad spots.
You take your chances and see what you get. I would guess the bare hardwood would be best. At least the renters can see the damage.
Be SURE to take LOTS of pictures of the house and floor.
Paul
Thanks ALL for giving me food for thought. I prefer carpet to wood for renters but it doesn't always work out the way I want, unless I pay extra.
I have seen almost no staples work very well in pad. Some go way overkill.
How about a cheap composite wood over waterproof pad.
Greg
I would leave the current wood flooring. After the rentals are over, you can cover it with brand-new carpeting, and in the meantime you can put the money to some other use that you would enjoy more. If the renters want to, they can buy area rugs. If the floors are damaged by renters, they can be refinished at least once for much less than the cost of replacing carpeting.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.