Is it OK to leave subfloor exposed in kids room until able to afford correct flooring?

[lemonfawns]

My son has moved into my childhood bedroom, fit with the same old dingy carpet and everything. He, of course, does not want the same decorations I did as a kid and we’re redecorating but I’m not sure what to do with the flooring.

He’s pretty prone to spilling things so I don’t want a carpet but would put in a rug. I don’t currently have the funds for any real flooring, and I’m not sure my options.

My mum says it should be fine to just take up the carpet and leave him with that floor, nailing down any of the floorboards that are loose, but I don’t know if that’s OK to do? At least until I can save up for some good flooring.

I worry if we rip up the carpet the floorboards will be sort of “unliveable” and could cause splinters, I’ve looked into laminate or self adhesive vinyl but worry if the floor is uneven it’ll be a bigger project than we expect and can’t afford to get a handyman out to help with anything so it’s all me doing it. In the same sort of thought moving his furniture in and out to take up the carpet and put in flooring again and again when I am able to get proper ones would be difficult with no one else able to help me, I’d rather get it all done at once and if the subfloor is good that could be a great option for me in getting it all done fast.

For now I plan to just let him keep the carpet but it’s becoming difficult to keep clean.

Just wondering what others think?

you would be surprised how dirty they can get especially if you have pets.

OP said she had this carpet her entire childhood so it is likely as old as she is or close to it. Even if OP is 14 with a 2yr old son, the carpet is way past its service life. They recommend 7yrs max for a carpet if anyone is asthmatic or has allergies, or 10yrs if no asthma/allergies in both cases if the carpet is cleaned at least once a year.

Personally a large area rug is going to cost more than on offcut or clearance carpet from carpet right. You can also save money on the installation if you pull up and dispose of the old carpet yourself so the fitters are only installing the new carpet. We paid £50 per room doing this for install.

Just put a rug or off cut over the current carpet. You could also buy a cheap roll end from somewhere like designer carpets (don't be put off by the name) for a hundred quid or so and get it fitted by a local carpet fitter. If you don't care too much about the colour it can end up being really cheap.

Have you considered carpet tiles? Very durable, easy to put down and can be bought at a reasonable price. Order more than you need and any badly stained tiles can be taken up and replaced. Although most stains can be removed as they are strong enough to be scrubbed. I have them in my kitchen and they have proved to be very practical.

Just looking on market place an immaculate silvery carpet in a very posh sitting room with a bay window, big room £50.

I got underlay on amazon. I paid £25 for a small box room, and £50 for my living room which is about 15m². I went for the really thick one but there was thinner option which was slightly cheaper. The Lounge carpet was £180 and I did pay in 3 on amazon. Again cheaper options available. The carpet is not top end but the good underlay makes up for that. For the box room I got a cut off from a local shop for £100, this was quite a big piece, alot more than i needed for that room but not big enough for any where else, i ennded up with loads left over and this was one of the top end carpets, feels like walking on air. Carpet grippers were £10 on amazon or screw fix, this did both rooms as i only replaced the damaged bits. Carpet glue from b&m or amazon £5. And i bought a kicker tool.kit which i think was £25. Dont rip the carpet up yet, you could be unmasking more issues. Get a few big rugs, try facebook/ebay or cheap b&m ones for now until you can afford it. I made this mistake once and ripped it up too early before I could afford it. It made the room cold and dusty, and it just looked a mess.
Ive started buying myself £10.amazon gift cards when I can spare it to put towards doing the other bed rooms and a few other items that need replacing/updating. That way its not such a big lay out at once.

How big is the room? Carpet can be expensive but I bet you could get v inexpensive carpet for not much at all. Is it an awkward shape? Could you have it cut to size and fit it yourself? Head over to a non fancy carpet place with your measurements and see if they’ve got anything that would do for now?

This.

7 years life sounds like carpet salesman speak! Very wasteful approach. I have several carpets that are closer to 20 years old that still looks and feels great. They were good quality 80/20 mix to start with. Professionally cleaned just once.

Clean the carpet, put a cheap rug over it and save until you can replace it. Floorboards are likely to be draughty and noisy.

Clean the carpet and get some nice rugs to go on top. Even if the carpet is old it will be better than bare boards and nicer to walk on barefoot.

The 10yr limit is the standard applied to landlords by the DPS and what letting agents are trained to by Propertymark UK. It’s usually 10yrs because that’s the maximum manufacturers guarantee on high quality carpets - cheaper carpets can have as low as a 2yr guarentee. This is always based on normal were abd tear by people (not pets).

Carpets are always cleaned between tenancies as well.

You can see how this standard is reflected in how security deposits are handled:
https://www.propertymark.co.uk/professional-standards/consumer-guides/landlords/fair-wear-and-tear.html

(I have never worked for or been paid by a carpet or flooring company or manufacturer ever.)

here is a good summary with excellent tips on how to keep a carpet clean from an American website that OP and readers of the thread may find useful
https://carpetreviewed.com/how-dirty-is-carpet-exploring-germs-allergens-effective/

We had a bedroom in our last house, in which we took up the carpet and washed the floors well, then put a bedside rug down. In previous houses to that we had sanded floors, but often bedrooms don’t need it. This particular bedroom had darkish floorboards, but you might find a nice wood floor under there.

IKEA have massive rugs, cotton flatweave ones for incredibly cheap prices, but also big carpet style rugs.

And this information is needed why??