Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Jan 05, 2009 1:25 pm Hi all, new to the forum... Just bought a house which I am madly renovating. I've been getting lots of help from this forum simply by reading posts... but now it's time to post a few questions of my own. Lookout !!
I have ripped up all previous flooring to discover a 20 year old particle sheet floor. Initially I wasn't to worried about this, but I've just had a tiler in laying 85 sqm of tiles and he had to first prep the floor with a cement slurry to even it out. He should be done in the next day or two... and in the coming weeks I need to look into carpet for the rest of the house. I guess I have a double barrel question: Due to the slurry and then the tile thickness, the top edge of the tile is approx 20-30 mm above the existing floor height. Is there a standard process for raising the existing floor height to lessen the step between tiles and carpet? Also since my flooring is so uneven can this same process be used to flatten out the floor in all rooms where the carpet will be laid? If not, what can I do to flatten out the bumps..? Before I ripped up the old carpet, I noticed that the ups and downs in the floor were visible when looked at from the right angle and lighting.... I don't want a similar result with my new carpets. Thanks Re: Carpet to be layed over uneven floor 2Jan 05, 2009 1:36 pm You probably noticed the old underlay had collapsed as well.
Make sure you get top quality underlay; it should make a big difference to the appearance of the carpet and the levels. BUT, if you are talking a huge noticeably difference in height and levels you might have to think about ripping up the partial board and raising the height of the floor beams? mmmmmmm, yucky job! Go the underlay. Talk to the carpet people they will help you. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Carpet to be layed over uneven floor 3Jan 05, 2009 6:25 pm You may find thay will have to put down a layer of masonite or similar to build it up and that will help even out the little bumps.
A firm, good quality underlay will also help. cheers Col Nation For information on caring for wool and other carpet and upholstery go to www.woolsafe.com.au Re: Carpet to be layed over uneven floor 5Jan 05, 2009 9:36 pm depends how bad it is. Obviously putting ply down and sanding it will work, but would be a pretty big expense and may not be needed. There are other options depending on how bad it is.
judging by "were visible when looked at from the right angle and lighting...." they are not that bad. Could you get some photos up of it ? and in the doorways with the height difference, if its 20mm - 30mm now, and you get 14mm dunlop ultimate underlay, and an average carpet is around 10mm and good carpets are thicker. your height difference wont be alot at all. But if you do want to even it up some more so there is no difference, its possible to get some 'feather finish' smoothing compound and ramp the doorways back a good metre or so and you wont notice much at all, if any. "I've just had a tiler in laying 85 sqm of tiles and he had to first prep the floor with a cement slurry to even it out" he did that over what kind of subfloor ? Re: Carpet to be layed over uneven floor 6Jan 06, 2009 10:05 am Thanks all for the replies...
Michelle - the old underlay actually wasn't too bad. But I take your point a better underlay will help hide the ups'n downs. Steveo - I've attached a couple of photos. You can see the general flooring. The rises and falls are generally along the joins of the boards. I guess sanding each of these down might be a good start. Can they be hired from B? You can see in the photo the new floor height of the tiles is closer to 30 mm. But your suggestion of the Dunlop Ultimate underlay with the carpet height will get to within 6 mm... and that's fine by me. Especially if I get a couple of carpet mats cut to place at those transition areas. The Feather Finish sounds good, but from what I've read it's really only meant to be used in thicknesses of up to 3mm which might just be enough. To answer you question on the tiling subfloor... it's the same particle board flooring. The tiler placed plastic sheeting over it, then fixed down aluminium mesh, then the cement slurry on top of that. I've though of replacing the floor, but it'll be both a costly and timely exercise, neither of which I can afford. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Carpet to be layed over uneven floor 8Jan 06, 2009 2:41 pm With the feather finish, i see ardex does indeed say 3mm but you will have no troubles going a few more, and if you were worried they have other products that would be suitable for thicker just take longer to dry and i cant think of em off the top of my head.
feather finish is just really really easy to use, drys fast and works over almost any type of floor. With that floor, no need to replace ! would be a waste of money. That picture you have with the 10 cent peice is a fair height difference, but nothing to stress about. Id be sanding them down pretty close to level, and using some feather finish over every join. The more you ramp the feather finish back the less likley you will be to see it, go around half a metre. You could hire a floor sander to do it, but its a bit of overkill. yes bunnings hire them. A good belt sander with a chunky grit sandpaper will do it fine, thats all i use ! my makita belt sander does have more power than my first car tho i recken Do that and use a good quality underlay and you will have no worries at all ! Re: Carpet to be layed over uneven floor 9Jan 07, 2009 7:03 am Steveo, thanks for help. I'm new to the renovation game, and I find myself making problems bigger in my head than they should be, or over complicating the solution. It's great to get some advise from someone who can bring the problem back to what it really is.
I'll be following your advise and we'll see how we go. Thanks again. I hope this help you newhome_24, AS3958.1 is the Ceramic Tile Installation Standard. It specifies the tolerances for the installation of tiles. The tile supplier is… 1 7305 I don't think you're getting a response because you are not quite clear on what the issue is. yep, the site is not level, no site is! but are you just building a garage?… 1 2250 Thank you. Do I use timber floorboards for stairs or do people use timber treads? Or is both the same? 6 7254 |