Backstory, details then question. There were 4 of us growing up. The day ceramic tile became available my dad installed it over the ENTIRE first floor of the house. At the time, colored/design tile was still very expensive. White was the only option. White ceramic tile covers the whole downstairs. Looks wonderful. *sarcasm*
We all grew up and moved out. House became a rental property. Last tenants sorta trashed the place and now I’m looking to get back into it and rehab the place in exchange for some cheap rent. I’m getting divorced and consequently going through a nasty custody battle. I currently have custody of my 14 month old son.
My only qualms about moving back into the house is the ceramic tile. There is carpet upstairs but I know we would still spend most of our time downstairs. The ceramic is hard on my knees and I’m not looking forward to the additional bumps and bruises caused by “hard” flooring. I’ve talked to dad about putting carpet or even hardwood down and he simply doesn’t want to go through the expense because I probably won’t be there but a year or two.
Finally to the question, anybody have any ideas how I could install carpet over the ceramic without damaging it? I was thinking I could use liquid nails to secure the strip? I don’t think there would be too many problems removing it from the tile later… I know rugs are an alternative…If I have to buy 8 area rugs, I might as well carpet the place. Would be about as expensive.
Replies
welcome to BT
i'd forget about the wall-to-wall....
is it the standing on CT that bothers your knees ?
Walking, its the constant pounding. I'm more concerned about the boy...
i wouldn't be concerned about the boy.... CT is fine for kids... we raised our daughter and 16 nephews & neices on a CT floor
now we're working on the next generationMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Area rugs may be as or more expensive, but you can take them with you when you move. To me that is more attractive as a short term solution.
And good on your dad for doing such a great install that it is in good shape all these years later.
Edited to add: you can also sell the rugs when you move out to get a little back from your investment.
Edited 10/13/2008 4:36 pm by aimless
I third the vote for area rugs. Even just get some carpet remnants and have the edges bound to go cheap.
You COULD glue down tack strip but I'd hate to be the one who had to pull it up and clean off the glue. That'd be a miserable job. And there's no guarantee that putting force on the tack strip while installing or un-installing the carpet wouldn't pull up, crack or otherwise damage the tile. I'd view it as a one-directional process, not something to be easily undone.
your only there a year or two?i'd buy some carpet ,cut to fit and throw it down. it will be fine and when your ready to move on and dad goes back to a rental take the carpet and evryones happy. if that don't work for ya ,next would be two sided tape.
if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
I will have to agree with Mike on this one.
We have two kids (one just shy of three and one about week shy of one) and they've done miles of crawling on hardwood and ceramic tile.
I would have thought that the hard surface combined with the inevitable tumbles would make for a bad combination. The truth is, I can probably count on my hand the number of times the kids seemed to get hurt more than they would have if on carpet & pad.
It hurts my knees when I'm crawling around playing with them, but I don't think they even notice.
If you want to cover the floor on the cheap, carpet remnants can work well. I had a friend who carpeted their basement in 8x8 blocks. The color schemes were kinda cool and it was cheap. It won't make Architectural Digest, but it doesn't sound like disposable income will be your strong suit.
Good luck with your son!
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Thanks for all the responses guys. Yeah, the disposable income is, well, pretty much non-existent at this point. I will probably gather up some carpet and make a bunch of "rugs". Should work out pretty well.
You could use carpet tiles in some areas.
They don't need tackless strips, easily repaired, easily removed...buic