Carpets and floorboards

[adogisforlife91]

Does anyone know if carpet can be layed on top of existing flooring (with appropriate underlay etc) or if floorboards need to be fully removed? If the carpet goes on top, do they have to remove all the existing skirting and put it back?

I've tried googling but can only find info the other way round, pulling up carpet to put floorboards down.

P.s. Before you say i'm crazy I only want it in 2 upstairs bedrooms, to make them cosier....not removing the character of the whole house!! :)

Do you mean over a wooden floor or laminate that has already been put on top of floorboards?

What flooring is down now?

Yes you can lay carpet over floorboards. It's completely standard. If they are uneven you will want good quality underlay.

They don't remove skirtings to fit carpets. They put gripper around the edges of the room and stretch and tuck the carpet around the edges.

What do you mean existing flooring? If it’s floorboards, of course, just put a good underlay down first.

You can line the floor with thin ply wood to cover the boards of they are gappy.

All my carpets are laid on top of the floorboards. I don’t think there’s any reason at all to pull floorboards up in order to fit carpet unless they’re very gappy, rotten or draughty and would need replacing anyway. I probably wouldn’t install carpet over laminate or tiles personally, but I know it’s possible since previous occupants of this house have done exactly that and we’ve not got round to sorting it yet, not that it’s a disaster as it is fine. Just probably not the “proper” way to do it.

Thanks everyone - in answer to some of the PP its like pine wooden floorboards. Obviously quite old but not particularly nice, and very gappy in some places. Already looking forward to a cosy carpet :D

If you take up the floorboards you'll have just joists.

Carpet goes on top with gripper rods around the edge of the room.

Has anyone here laid carpet on top of laminate flooring?

The carpet gets laid on the floorboards on top of underlay

Any large gaps in between floor boards I'd probably fill with some mastic

You don't need to remove the skirtings

@Cannotcope4223

Has anyone here laid carpet on top of laminate flooring?

When my brother viewed the house that is his now the floor in the bedrooms was weirdly bouncy. Estate agent said it was carpet laid over laminate. Mine and everyone's reaction has been absolute bafflement that anyone would do this.

They ripped up both carpet and laminate and relaid carpet over the floorboards as normal.

If you take up the floorboards there won’t be any floor to lay the carpet on!