Can’t afford to carpet my council house

Not perfect solution, but it is possible to paint or varnish concrete floors fairly cheaply which should bring down the dust. Then go on Freecycle and request some big rugs, some children's rugs or fluffy ones for the bedroom. Even rag rugs work in a kitchen.

As PP said, there could be some Freecyclers or local charities that can supply underlay and carpet offcuts but it is unlikely they will be a perfect fit, so getting some paint or varnish down will at least stop the dust.

It's a real shame that councils can't afford to provide the basics any more.

I’m assuming that you are on an estate if you’re in a new build, if you have an estate Facebook page ask on there. I’m surprised by the number of people who have made alterations, new kitchens etc since the houses were built a few years ago. You might find someone who is changing the carpets.

Read the post yeah.

Seal the concrete or use garage floor paint. Ikea do reallly big rugs such as this one
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/tiphede-rug-flatwoven-black-natural-20470047/
They also do it in a sheaper smaller size
They are washable.

https://www.sealantsandtoolsdirect.co.uk/sika-dustproofer-and-concrete-hardener-5-litre-skdust5

This might help to keep the dust down. Vinyl which looks like. Wooden floor would be good for the bedrooms and then add rugs when you can afford them? Ask on Facebook groups etc. People are usually very good at helping. Try a carpet shop for remnants as they usually work out cheaper. And try not to panic, you’ll get there.

https://www.acts435.org.uk/partners/
This is an organisation that may be able to help. Put your postcode in to find the nearest Acts 435 partner in your area and contact them.

My first married home was a council house, and we had no money for flooring either. The ground floors were concrete. We sealed the concrete and put down large cheap rugs (IKEA have very cheap flat weave rugs in large sizes - Tiphede for example for £18). The upper floor was wood; I scrubbed the boards down, then painted them and sealed with floor varnish. We did similar with the stairs. This would give you a bit of breathing space to save for carpets if you want to and you could do one room at a time as you can afford it.

There is a liquid you dilute and put into a concrete floor which will help with the dust. We did it in ours when we were world for concrete to dry properly before putting wooden floors down.

Oh and be grateful you’ve got a house

”Grateful” for having a roof over her head after being homeless 🤔

Dont be a mindless dick!

Contact your local Rotary/Lions/Round Table or other community groups. They raise money for local good causes and often like helping people in your situation. They might not have the funds at the moment but a few minutes googling to find them, or a visit to the library, plus a few emails might get you a contribution towards the cost.

Try vinyl - way way cheaper - it's not as nice but it will sort the dust problem. You can also lay it yourself if you're DIY-minded, easier than putting down your own carpet.. lots of videos on youtube if you don't mind a bit of research/have access to a device to watch them, which will save on labour costs.

My friend painted the floors too. Just edge with a brush, then use a roller.

It's been such a pleasure reading all the helpful, supportive comments on this thread.

Then there's you.

What do you reckon, OP?

OP?

Are you coming back?

Just get cheap rugs or offcuts to cover as much of the floor as possible and then do carpet or vinyl as you can afford it. Amazon has many very cheap rugs of different sizes.

From experience, you need to prioritise in this order;

Kitchen/bathroom vinyl if there isn't already some or vinyl tiles in place - usually very cheap because the spaces are very small. Sticky tiles are OK if they're on sale in the poundshop (it's where I got some for my old flat's bathroom), but they're not as durable as a sheet of vinyl.

A covering on the ground floor to make the most difference in winter - definitely add in some thermal underlay, anything is better than nothing. So hallway and living room. Depending upon the size, the hall can usually be done with a very cheap offcut and you just make do with the largest area you can covered in the living room.

Rugs by each bed.

Stairs - whilst bare treads can be fashionable in warmer homes, that's unlikely with most social housing and stacking on them hurts. Depending upon the width, it could be more realistic to buy three cheap runners and then fix them with carpet tacks than expect to fully fit carpet at first, possibly if they're quite wide, painting either side will mean it looks better.

Landing - could be another offcut tacked down.

That's enough to keep you all warm enough until you can gradually get together the funds to have the floors done properly over the coming months/years.

And practically, if you're bothered about fitting vinyl, I found that giving the edges a blast with a hairdryer made them soft enough to cut through easily and neatly right up against the skirting with a Stanley blade.

Just do one room at a time as you can afford it…

Oh and be grateful you’ve got a house

Is the price quoted just for the carpets or also the fitting?

I fitted my carpets myself; it doesn't take too much skill, provided your rooms are rectangular. Grips around the outside, underlay, then carpet on top and cut with a good knife.

Perhaps that way, you'll be able to save at least some of the cost and do each room up as and when you can afford?

You can buy Lino on Amazon for about £100 per room

Hope we haven’t scared the off, with all these sensible suggestions. 🤔

Indeed. I said that but the ‘concrete throughout’ and ‘need to carpet the whole house’ persists. If this is real, there’ll only be one room downstairs to carpet - the lounge. The bedrooms will have floorboards not concrete 🙄

Councils can't let properties without cleanable water tight floors in the bathroom and kitchen. So those will be done already

This isn’t true and is a myth, the regulatory requirement is that kitchen and bathroom floors must be ply-ed or screeded, they do not have to provide floor/decorative coverings.

Yes. I’ve been in social housing since 1974, and I have never moved into a place with either carpeting or recent decorating. That’s how it is.

Dunelm sells large washable rugs for just over £100. Could you seal the concrete floor and get a couple of these rugs until you can afford carpet?

Those individual tiles that are self-adhesive might seem a quick cheap fix btw, but they're murder to prise up when you are in a position to re-do the floor. Horrible gluey mess.