[emmaemily]

Do anyone know the tips for installing hardwood flooring over carpet? Is it the right idea to do so?

 

[Stick486]

that will one serious mistake...
pull the carpet...
where did you hear about how to do that???

 

[sreilly]

Yeah, Stick's right....why would you want to install wood floors over carpet? If you're installing laminate you'd want a thin foam pad made for that purpose but never carpet. Pull the carpet and make sure the nails/staples are removed as well. In fact I'd vacuum the floor before installing the wood.

 

[Stevekane]

Well that depends,,my son has a shop and it had a thin carpet which had been glued down, tried pulling a bit up and it was virtually impossible. We wanted to fit Laminate flooring and I took the view that the carpet could probably take the place of the thin foam underlay you would normally lay. That was 9 years ago and despite the heavy footfall there have been no problems. Hardwood flooring though,,clearly not small pieces, but if they are planks, and the carpet was difficult to remove and not particulary thick, then I might give it a go,,how do you plan to fix it though?
Steve.

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

I think it might cause you a great deal of trouble during installation and I'm not sure it would turn out level. I'm also not sure if the tongues might be prone to splitting after. I wouldn't risk it. You might want to lay a layer of tarpaper down under it. I didn't add it and I get a bit of noise walking across it and I've heard the tarpaper can eliminate that..

 

[mark greenbaum]

Seriously, bad idea. Get all flooring off and to the dump, then put vapor barrier (I've used heavy brown paper) down overlapping and stapled, then hardwood. I've done about 6000 s.f. and shot about 20,000 wedged nails with a $125 HF pneumatic flooring hammer gun, and only have had 4 jammed nails.

 

[Knothead47]

Get rid of the carpet and clean off any pad that sticks. BTW, forget laminate- like walking on cardboard. AMHIK.

 

[Herb Stoops]

Seriously, bad idea. Get all flooring off and to the dump, then put vapor barrier (I've used heavy brown paper) down overlapping and stapled, then hardwood. I've done about 6000 s.f. and shot about 20,000 wedged nails with a $125 HF pneumatic flooring hammer gun, and only have had 4 jammed nails.

GO Harbor Freight!!!
Herb

 

[CharleyL]

Some HF tools are real gems with great prices. Their floor nailer is one of these gems, but get that floor down to a smooth wood surface before installing the new floor. Put down a good vapor barrier, and then nail down your new floor.

Eight years ago I installed a Kempas hardwood floor in my 6 1/2' wide by 74' hallway just before I had my knees replaced. I ended up lying face down on a mechanics creeper and using gel insert knee pads in order to do it. I'm about to replace 800' of carpet in the living and dining room with a maple hardwood floor, but I'm giving serious thought to paying a contractor to do it, since even with both knees replaced, I can no longer work at floor level, even while wearing the gel knee pads.

Charley

 

[CharlesWebster]

I had glued down shag carpet in my trailer and needed to remove it. I used a heat gun and a oscillating multi tool with an end cutter. It took some time and a lot of swear words, but I finally got it removed. Only to discover that there was a layer of linoleum over a layer of vinyl tile. Anyone want a trailer in need of restoration?

 

[Stick486]

do wood over the vinyl...

 

[mark greenbaum]

This last hardwood flooring project, and I do mean LAST, was in the current house. The final portion was the kitchen. Removing the Museum of Linoleum Flooring (4 layers, spanning 40 years) that the rental tool from HD would not even make a dent. I had to score with a box knife in strips, and use an HF Multi-Oscillating tool to start a place to pry up by hand. The adhesive was so pungent that our dog had a seizure from the dust and airborne glue smell. The maple Tongue and Groove is so much easier to maintain, and looks phenomenal.

 

[DaninVan]

Hey, Mark; I feel your pain! I'm guessing you didn't do anything in a protective way about the asbestos in the flooring material.... *zipped lips*
If I understand you (correctly) your kitchen floor is now Maple T&G? Just a heads up; if any moisture gets into the floor, especially the joints, your floor will swell and most likely buckle.
Wood floors don't belong in areas of water spillage. Just sayin'.
In any case, congrats for taking on and completing what would have been a brutal project. I salute you!