No carpets in the house?

5 years ago

We are planning our (Victorian) house renovation and one thing I would love is to get rid of all the carpets! Our pets always destroy them and I could do without the stress. However we have always had at least some carpet, particularly upstairs.

Can I just sand and stain the floorboards (fingers crossed they are in good condition). What should I do with the stairs? Are there any other issues to consider?

Featured Answer

Doe Stewart

5 years ago

We don't have any carpets in any of our rooms upstairs and down. We have fitted carpet on the stairs and landing and that's it. Rugs in both living rooms, floors all laminate in a medium oak colour, 4 bevelled edges on each plank so once laid they look like floorboards only much warmer to live with. We have had this flooring down for about 10 years, looks as good as new, hoover it and wash with a mop and warm water or a steam mop, so easy to look after. We now have a dog and the flooring is absolutely fantastic, unlike carpet which can hold onto aromas, the laminate remains clean and fresh.

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Comments (22)

Jonathan
5 years ago
I think you should consider if the carpets represent a layer of insulation. You should also consider if there is a safety implication- for instance would the stairs be sloppy without a carpet? Would you want rugs and would they be a trip hazard?
PRO
OnePlan
5 years ago
We have large rugs made from room sized carpet remnants with whipped edges in the bedrooms with about 6/10” of outter wooden floorboards visible - but no carpets elsewhere. It’s not too cold or too drafty surprisingly .
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PRO
OnePlan
5 years ago
Oh - we do have a stair runner - forgot that !!
A B
Original Author
5 years ago
Large rugs is a good idea. At least they are easier to replace when they get damaged. I am concerned about insulation so maybe they would help with this too.
A B
Original Author
5 years ago
I do really like the look of a stair runner but it’s our stair carpet that always seems to suffer the most!
PRO
OnePlan
5 years ago
What do you do on your stairs ?!!!!

A ‘Shoes off’ policy might help with wear and tear on stairs ?!
A B
Original Author
5 years ago
Ha ha! It’s our cats that scratch the carpets thread bare. Drives me mad!
AMB
5 years ago
I am in the same position Jen P. We recently bought our victorian terrace and have removed ALL carpeting and sanded and oiled the floorboards. It's an interim measure and it is fine now the weather is warm but I am having the same dilemma as my cat scratches the carpet.

In my last house we had fitted carpets in all but the dining room where we had a whipped carpet rug that OnePlan describes. You could notice the difference on particularly cold windy days, but not much.

I think I will carpet the living room and main bedroom and loft rooms to make them cosy and because the floorboards are not in a good condition but with our dining room and spare bedroom the floorboards are in a better condition so we will leave exposed and put a rug down. I will do they same in the hallway.

Where any boards are left exposed I will have them professionally sanded and finished with any gaps filled in. This I think is a must in furnished rooms unless your floorboard gaps are very small as black dust and dirt (inevitable in an old house) come through the gaps.

I will also have a stair runner to soften the noise made.
AMB
5 years ago
I would also like to put insulation under the floorboards which would help against heat loss, drafts, and dust and dirt coning through.
A B
Original Author
5 years ago
Any idea of what material you will have the stair runner in? Good point about sealing the gaps.
A B
Original Author
5 years ago
Cross posted. Insulation is a great idea but sounds expensive. What sort do they use?
Sonia
5 years ago
We sanded our floorboards with a sanding machine upstairs and down (phew exhausting and what a mess!) and then varnished them with one of those “diamond hard” floor varnishes. We did 3 coats. The varnish soon wore off, especially in busy areas, so much for “diamond hard”! The bedrooms fared better, but even they got scratched and chipped. We also found the floorboards in the sitting room were very draughty, so we decided to lay a wooden floor on top. We topped it with a large Persian rug and it’s all so much cosier now.

I personally did not like the cold floorboards in the bedrooms, so we have now carpeted them. My stairs are carpeted, but then I don’t have cats! This is just what I did, not a suggestion that you do the same.
PRO
OnePlan
5 years ago
My stair runner is tartan wool carpet ...
like this - but I can’t find a decent pic of mine - so here’s a stock one .
Daisy England
5 years ago
Would a Seagrass carpet on the stairs be better?
Tani H-S
5 years ago
Could you not go for even a laminate over some of the floors that need insulating rather than leaving them just floorboards?
Also you can get finished panels which sit over the stair treads to give a new tread in a soolid wood - think of them like veneers for teeth! Especially useful if your stairs are all rickety like ours were.

If you are going to try and sand them all down then it’s worth just staining rather than painting them from experience.

Sanding is something we attempted twice and it’s such hard work, difficult to end up with smooth floors and not gouging out bits and is also expensive to do. Get a pro in to do it properly if your floors are good quality.

We had just pine in our old Victorian house and they are to soft and marked v easily so looked a mess quickly

Our master bedroom here is floorboards and I’m literally going to manually sand them lightly - removing any bumps then use a floor paint with a light coat of clear varnish on top. Will be much cheaper and save us the cost of installing carpet as well (having no budget of course, ha ha)
AMB
5 years ago
Jen P - in terms of material, I have my eye on the Natural Tweed range by Brockway, if budget allows. I looked up insulation and there are two ways (maybe more) to do it: get a professional in to lift the floors and fit a membrane into the brickwork, lay insulation. then put floors back. Or the DIY way (which I might do) which is lifting floor, fixing battens to the joists and laying insulation between the gaps. I would like natural wool insulation but depends on the budget! It must be breathable, that's why I'm not keen on the sound of the wall to wall membrane method.
A B thanked AMB
AMB
5 years ago
Also, I can't do any carpeting right now so I will buy some wool carpets and runners for the Winter. I haven't lived in my house through winter yet. Maybe during the first winter it will be cold and drafty and I will be forced to panic-carpet!
titiankim
5 years ago
Wet had professionals insulate our floor from underneath (there is a deep crawl space). They used 10cm sheet insulation. It made a huge difference.
PRO
Origin - Doors and Windows
5 years ago
This article may give you some ideas:

https://origin-global.com/advice-centre/16-flooring-tips-tricks-and-ideas-to-transform-your-home
J A
5 years ago
We removed all the carpets in our Victorian house. On the stairs we stained the treads and painted the risers white to try keep it from feeling too gloomy. However our cats use the half landing as a scratch post and have scratched all our sanded and stained flooring. We had deliberately not had stair runners because of the cats but they have still made their mark anyway...

I don't have a solution but we do have a large Ikea sisal rug in the bedrooms which both cats have taken a liking to yet the rug. itself looks absolutely perfect and seems to cope well. The sisal is a bit tough under foot but it has survived one thuggish cat and his brother who gives into peer pressure.
nmlondon
5 years ago
Really dislike the fitted carpets (impossible to properly clean despite all the hoovering and using the carpet cleaning machines - especially close to the skirting boards) apart from the stairs runner that we fitted last year - the staircase was partially repaired/ partially replaced and the steps had to be carpeted) but have all sorts of Persian etc rugs as well as dhurries, which all can be professionally cleaned/washed. They also provide an important layer of insulation in our 30s house that is not yet insulated underneath the floorboards? We have two cats, they are not interested in the runner and the rugs, apart from sleeping on them, but guess we are just lucky?

No carpets in the house?

Doe Stewart

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Jonathan

OnePlan

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