What to do with conventional floor with carpet that needs to come up

I have carpet over a conventional foundation. What can I do? Carpet has to go. Low budget.
  9 answers
  • MaryStLouis MaryStLouis on Dec 24, 2014
    The least expensive replacement would be laminate. Lowe's and Home Depot have a good selection but my advice would be to go with a name brand and with a thickness no less than 10mm. Anything thinner will be more subject to warping.
  • Dee Dee on Dec 24, 2014
    I bought lawson 12 mm laminate Austin collection have had it down for 3 years. Even the dogs nails cannot scratch it.
  • Dale Dale on Dec 24, 2014
    If it is concrete, what about staining, then sealing that?
  • Carolyn Hoxton Carolyn Hoxton on Dec 24, 2014
    have you seen the lady who painted her basement floor, with a stencil, check it out, it is gorgeous.
  • Pamela Langone Pamela Langone on Dec 24, 2014
    There is a lot you can do . But if your going to stain you really need to clean the concrete frist
  • Robin Datin Robin Datin on Dec 24, 2014
    You could buy porch paint which covers very well, it will last until you can afford the upgrade.
  • Nancy Nancy on Dec 24, 2014
    Paper bag floor. I covered a cable floor and everyone loved it. Look up on Pinterest. A roll of brown paper, was it up and run thru a mixture of elders and water. After completely dry deal with clear sealer.
    • Gail Salminen Gail Salminen on Dec 24, 2014
      @Nancy agree with this suggestion - @Patricia Thrasher this is an easy process. If you visit @Ashley @ Domestic Imperfection site you will find the instructions and links to other sites with more instructions. I have done this process and is very very easy. You can also use the search bar above to find other projects with brown paper bags.
  • Connie Connie on Dec 24, 2014
    Find a discount carpet store which sells 2x2 carpet tiles. Inexpensive (12 for less than $50) and easy to install. Use porch paint around the edges which will be covered by furniture. Or hunt for large,used area rugs and patchwork the floor with them.
  • Barbara Burnham Barbara Burnham on Dec 24, 2014
    Make sure to check out stores in your area that take "used" home items such as Habitat for Humanity's "Restore". They often have ceramic tile, laminates, etc. for a song compared to retail. I had one store tell me they usually have an assortment and it happened to be low with nothing I wanted. He took my name and number and called me when they got in more product. If you have to buy the underlayment or threshold, etc retail, you still saved a bundle.