Blogger Green Bay, WI on Jun 21, 2012

Carpet has been glued to floor boards.

We just moved into a 40-year-old house, it obviously needs updating. This ugly carpet is in the kitchen! Worst of all, the carpet has been glued directly to the floor boards (no padding.) Any suggestions on what kind of flooring I can put in that won't be expensive, but still nice?

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Kitchen Carpet

15 Comments

Carol C San Antonio, TX

All the laminates are great,easy and inexpensive...plus a DIY job.they even have the laminate to look like brick now.

on Jun 21, 2012 · Like 0
Suzanne W Green Bay, WI

But with laminate, don't you need to also put an under layment?

on Jun 21, 2012 · Like 0
Steve G Fort Collins, CO

Yes, you need an underlayment for laminate. I think it is kind of risky for a kitchen, though. If water gets under the top layer and into the laminate boards, they are ruined and you have to start over. You can find inexpensive tile or if that isn't in your budget, vinyl tile. But for either of those, you will need to scrape up all that carpet. Sorry.

on Jun 21, 2012 · Like 0
Woodbridge Environmental ... Colonia, NJ

you will need to remove the rug of course first. They make a power scraper for the reciprocating saw that is sold at Lowe's This is a two person job one pulling on the carpet while one works the saw into the glue. Will make quick work of this project. http://www.lowes.com/pd_355525-31302-108_0__... ...»

Once the carpet is up, you then can decide what to do next. If the floor is in pretty good shape, less some glue, a laminate floor will work, but it does need a underlayment to even out the bumps and make it more quite to walk upon.
Check in your area for Lumber Liquidators. They are having a sale the next few weeks on laminates. With some as low as $1.99 a square foot. They have a great selection as well.

on Jun 22, 2012 · Like 0
Jeanette S Atlanta, GA

We removed similar carpet and big patches of foam backing stuck to the floor. We had to shovel it up and then put a wire brush wheel on the drill and knock the rest of it off...we had about 600 sq. feet of this mess! In our kitchen, we put down laminate about 2 years ago and I will never have anything else! LOVE IT! With any kitchen floor, you have to be careful of water because even ceramic tile can have cracks in the grout. The underlay for this flooring is only about $1a ...»
foot...probably less . I have real oak hardwood in my living& dining rooms and laminate everywhere else in the downstairs...even master bedroom and bath....LOVE IT! There are so many different colors and patterns that are affordable now...I love them all!

on Jun 22, 2012 · Like 0
Carol C San Antonio, TX

Steve,they make Laminate now just for "wet' areas.they are designed just for kitchens and bath areas...some actually have the inderlayment on it already.Our daughter just put in her bath and it has a 30 year warrantee.Go to Home Depot or any good flooring company..we will be doing our kitchen in the next year.It's espiecally great for older homes as they are never level or square,,and these floors are 'floating" floors so you
don't have to worry about that.

on Jun 22, 2012 · Like 0
Carol C San Antonio, TX

Oh,we've removed that kind of carpet before and linoleum also,make sure you wear masks and block of the doorways to the rest of the house,as you don't know about what kind of glue is under there.Lots of work but well worth it!!!

on Jun 22, 2012 · Like 0
Steve G Fort Collins, CO

Interesting. Thanks for the update, Carol. I haven't seen that. I will have to look into it.

on Jun 22, 2012 · Like 0
KMS Woodworks Nederland, CO

In a kitchen the best and most durable option would be tile...you can find tile at most home centers for about $1 sq ft...if your not to picky...If you want higher end stuff you can pay upwards of 8 to 20 a sq.
Get the carpet out and install some cement backer board then the tile...it will last darn near forever.

on Jun 23, 2012 · Like 0
Ginny F La Plata, MD

We have several rental houses that had berber carpet or very thin commercial type carpet in bad shape stainwise, all were glued down. We were advised against doing this, but used the caret as underlayment and laid down laminate right over the carpet. Some of them were done over 3 years ago and we have had no problems whatsoever. YOu could not do thisif the carpet is plush, thick or uneven though.

on Jun 23, 2012 · Like 0
Tracie M Perris, CA

Depending on the type a glue...Goo Gone (Goo Gone is not flammable), wide large metal spackle knife and a heat gun. Start in a corner with Goo Gone and spackle knife for lifting. Once started, and is working, add a small amount of Goo Gone to exposed glue connected to floor and carpet, place knife edge to floor at a slight angle and push forward/up against carpet, then use heat gun (if it has settings, use the lowest) point towards floor and glue to prevent melting carpet. Will take two ...»
people, one to pull carpet back, one to used knife and heat gun.

on Jun 23, 2012 · Like 0
Jan C Duluth, GA

Check out Lumber Liquidators on line for pricing of laminate. They beat out our Home Depot/Lowes by almost half in price! We put laminate all the way thru the downstairs because of budget and are so happy with it! I have 2 - 5x7 area rugs in our kitchen/eating area in case we have any major spills, but the laminate is withstanding quite a lot. We have a 75 lb. dog who runs all over and it doesn't scratch at all, which is what I was worried about. For pricing tho, Lumber Liquidators was fantastic.

on Jun 23, 2012 · Like 1
Carol C San Antonio, TX

If you have a Habitat for Humanity store you can get great deal there also,builders donate over stock.Prices are fabulous.

on Jun 25, 2012 · Like 0
Fran T Beaumont, TX

We have 40 year old laminate glued to concrete..how do we get it up, short of renting expensive equipment? Tried the scraper, tried wetting it..still stuck. Help!!

on Jul 01, 2012 · Like 0
Woodbridge Environmental ... Colonia, NJ

Fran,
You are out of luck, unless you want to build really big muscles. A power scraper is well worth the cost when you see how many blisters you will end up with trying to do it manually.
The machine is a bit heavy but the cost of rental should not be much more then $60 a day. Well worth the money when you see just how hard it is to do.
I also sent you a note also.
Bob

on Jul 01, 2012 · Like 0