After getting so much positive feedback and tons of interest in our little laminate wood flooring installation project we decided to do a follow up along with a little time-lapse video of how the floor removal process went. For part one click here.
Our little experimental project consisted of laying a floating floor over the carpet in our apartment. We like the aesthetics, but mainly the dining area was carpeted and we knew that wasn’t going to work especially with three small children! So we laid the floor down over it and that definitely simplified clean up after eating (and potty training for that matter).
Still, we were unsure at the time exactly what the carpet would look like after years of being smashed under our layers of flooring. It turns out it looked great! WAY better than if we would have been living our daily lives trying to spot treat that area!
In the video you will see J removing the planks, followed by the removal of the subfloor which was OSB, and then vacuuming the carpet underneath.
Since we didn’t really document the original process we thought this video would be a nice way to see how it all came together. Even though it is of the removal, just reverse it to see how the installment would work.
A lot of readers have questions over the past couple years including-
“How long did it take?” It took about 8 hours once we had the materials ready
“Did it end up being damage free for the carpet underneath after removing?” YES!
“Is it strong enough to use as a dance floor?” I don’t know. Our three kids ages 2,5, and 7 have used it as a dance floor in some ways. It’s held up pretty well, but it had some minor evidence of wear and tear after a while.
“Would this work for an upstairs apartment? How is the sound for the downstairs neighbors?” If you are really concerned about the noise you can add a layer of floor muffler underlayment in-between your OSB and laminate planks. We did live in an upstairs apartment so it’s definitely doable, but I guess it depends on how much of a priority the volume control is for you.
That’s pretty much it. In the end we got our full deposit back after we moved and the carpet looked like new. I can assure you that would not have been the case had we not laid down the floors. And the best part is we didn’t spend all that money just for those years in the apartment, we got to take the floor with us and we are reusing it where we live now.
Our only regret was not continuing the flooring into the hallway because it is also such a high traffic area and it took a lot of abuse. If you are interested in doing a flooring project like this in your own house or rental property and you have any other questions please feel free to ask. If I can’t answer them I’ll get with the handy man that works behind the scenes here and I’m sure he can get you some info.
Good luck with your project!
That really did fume out looking great! Did you have much trouble with door levels? You know, the floor clearance would be higher.
I bet the landlord was happy!!
Hello,
Thank you for such great info. I do have a few questions:
1- Did you need to straighten the OSB boards any? the ones I bought yesterday seem to have some bend to them.
2- I noticed gaps between the boards. Any specifics on how wide to leave the gap? (I was guessing about 1″)
3- You mentioned changing something at the entryway, to allow more room for the door, I didn’t quite get that part.
Thank you in advance
Thank you. Glad to help.
1. If the boards are bowed, then put the crown of the arch facing the ceiling. You want the highest part to be in the center because the board should flatten out pretty easily with the weight forcing it down. Other than that we didn’t do any extra flattening.
2. In our case that was just amount of boards we had so we just distributed them even. You don’t want the gaps to be any wider than the plank of your floor, but yes 1″ should be fine!
3. You just have to make sure that your floor is low enough to have clearance for your door to open. I don’t have any exact measurements. It’s going to be different for each home. I just wanted to give a heads up that it is something to consider. You could just make sure you don’t put OSB right up against the door. That’s what we did. Once we realized our door was a little too low we just left the OSB out in that area and it slanted (just slightly) enough to where the door would open.The door did would still scrape against the floor just a little bit, but it never was an issue. It didn’t do any damage, and we didn’t have to pry it open or anything. I think the floor settled some in the long term too. Anyway, we did not put OSB right by the door in order to get just a little bit of extra clearance.
I hope that is helpful. We are just DIYers figuring things out as we go. We have since reinstalled the floor at our new place by the way and it looks great so I am still a believer in this whole system. It’s been great for us.
Good luck.
wondering if this could be done in a carpeted dining room? Instead of doing wall to wall making a “rug” out of the laminate or only doing a portion? Or would the height be too high (tripping & such) the area is pretty small but there’s a door to basement & kitchen floor! This is such a great idea!! Umm
Hi Emily,
I’m having the same question. My wife and I are moving into a rental home and the living room and dining room blend together all with carpeted floor! Did you ever find a way to have a functional transition from carpet to laminate and vice versa?
Thanks for any advice you can give!
Thank you for this article! A friend of mine is removing the floating bamboo flooring out of her basement (finished) and is letting me have all of it. She also has boxes of new flooring in her garage she is giving me.
I can’t rip out the carpet in the room I want to install it in (Fiance’s house, he wants me to leave the carpet. ) so your information was really helpful!
I hope I have enough of this flooring to do my entire studio!~as I am getting weary of worrying about whether or not I am getting paint/etc. on the carpet!
Thanks!
Julia
Hi Natalie, I was wondering if you used anything to attach the wood pieces to each other?
How did you do the transition between the wood and the carpet? Do you think this would hold up as an exercise surface? I don’t use my formal dining room and would like to transition it into my workout space but I would like to maintain the integrity of the carpet.
It would definitely hold up for exercise. My kids were very active on it, but keep in mind it won’t be as hard as a concrete or wood floor so I don’t know if the “give” in the floor would throw you off. Also, we just had our flooring cut straight and abruptly go to carpet. I am sure you could add a threshold if you wanted a more finished look.
What did you do for seams and edges nail wise
Hi Natalie,
I second Emily’s comment: my wife and I are moving into a rental and the living and dining room blend together, with carpeted floors. I’m wondering if it would be possible to install the wood planks on only the dining room portion of the space. Wondering the best way to seamlessly transition from carpet to planks and vice versa.. Thanks for any advice you can give!
Hi! I was wondering if there was any concern about moisture getting underneath the wood and molding?
Hi,
We might be moving to a carpeted rental and I would love to repeat your experience but I just need to know how you stick the laminate sheet to each other so that there is no gap between them? I tried to figure it out through reading the post and the comments and seeing the video but couldn’t figure it out. Thanks in advance 🙂
Ours locked into place like a puzzle piece. The laminate boards fit together very snuggly.
I am also curious about the edges. How did you flatten them?
Just wondering if it was affordable? I’m a senior in a fixed income and my carpet needs replacement but I can tell they are not jumping to replace anything here! I’m on disability w housing! I like where I’m at & have been here over 10 years. I am looking for a solution other than moving and I’m afraid if I pressure them it could maybe cause me problems? So flooring over carpeting is appealing. The kitchen & bathroom floors could probably be replaced w vinyl remnants! Just wondering how costly? . Talking 600 sq ‘ or less I would have to get someone to help do the work! Sm one bedroom w patio ! Thks
It was extremely affordable for us, but I have to admit that we had a very small amount of space and I know that some of the materials costs have doubled since I wrote this (which is very unfortunate but my husband was complaining about this just the other day.) I’m sorry I can’t help you with knowing what it will cost. It’s definitely worth shopping around to price compare. It might end up being a great option for your situation!