Can carpet be laid on top of laminate?

[Mottie]

As above. Our small bedroom has laminate fitted on top of those 10mm underfelt sheets. We want to carpet it. If I take the flooring up, there will be a fair gap between the bottom of the skirting board and the floorboards. Too big a gap if fitting carpet surely so can carpet be laid on top of laminate?

 

[Wayners]

Yes

 

[Jurassicspark]

You normally have to staple down the underlay to keep it in place under the carpet, plus hammer in gripper around all the edges that hold the carpet tight and you may have to undercut doorways that would leave a large gap later, because they are already undercut for the laminate.

Is the laminate glued down?

The gap can easily be filled with caulk.

 

[dazlight]

No. The laminate will move over time and the carpet will move away from the skirts. If you still do it double stick the carpet.

 

[Mottie]

Is the laminate glued down?

No, it’s just that click together stuff.

 

[Mottie]

No. The laminate will move over time and the carpet will move away from the skirts. If you still do it double stick the carpet.

Thanks. Yeah, sod it. I’ll take it all up and either lower the skirtings or overboard it with ply to bring it up to the same level as the landing. Probably a bit of both!

 

[foxhole]

Good quality under lay and carpet should bring it up to a similar level.

 

[Jurassicspark]

No, it’s just that click together stuff.

Easy to take off then.

Have you got the underlay and carpet already?

Just use 12mm underlay.

 

[Mottie]

Easy to take off then.

Have you got the underlay and carpet already?

Just use 12mm underlay.

No, not yet. Mrs Mottie wants the hall, stairs, landing and bedrooms all in the same carpet so we won’t be ordering it until they are all decorated and ready for carpeting.

 

[opps]

That only looks like a 5(?)mm gap. Is it more than that? I would expect any carpet other than the really, really short pile carpets to be OK.

 

[Mottie]

That only looks like a 5(?)mm gap. Is it more than that? I would expect any carpet other than the really, really short pile carpets to be OK.

I have those 10mm fibre board underlay panels plus the thickness of the laminate (8mm?) underneath the skirting so when they are removed I will have an approximate 18mm gap between the skirting and the floorboards.

 

[Mottie]

No. The laminate will move over time and the carpet will move away from the skirts. If you still do it double stick the carpet.

Thanks. Okay. Next question. I’m trying to avoid lowering the skirtings as that will mean either repapering or filling in the gap between the existing paper and the skirting (walls are only going to be painted). Can underlay and carpet be laid on top of the fibre board panels and if so, is the gap too big?

Gap with just laminate removed.

Gap with laminate and fibre board removed.

Finally, what’s your opinion on the gaps in my floorboards? I think they must have been fitted when damp in 1960 when the house was built and have shrunk as they have dried out. So far I’ve overboarded the landing and the main bedroom as after a while, you can see every plank through the carpet! I think I’ll have to overboard with some ply.

 

[crazydaze]

You can’t fit carpet over the fiberboard panels.

Floorboards look normal but would benefit from fitting 6mm Ply before installing carpet etc.

 

[Mottie]

You can’t fit carpet over the fiberboard panels.

Floorboards look normal but would benefit from fitting 6mm Ply before installing carpet etc.

Thanks. I'm biting the bullet and going to lay 10mm ply which will leave an approx 7-8mm gap between the ply and the bottom of the skirting. That gap should be able to be filled with carpet. I would have liked to fit 12mm but where the doorway meets the landing, the landing has been overboarded with what looks like 4mm ply and the level might be too far out.

 

[Mottie]

Just an update. I managed to remove all the skirting without damaging any of it and had some good luck. Last time I decorated (just painted lining paper) I thought I had papered down to the skirting board so I thought I’d have a gap between the paper and the new lower skirting level but what in fact I had done when I fitted the floor all those years ago was to remove the skirting, fit the fibre board and laminate then refit the skirting on top of the flooring and existing painted paper. Consequently, when I removed the skirting today, I found the paper extending down behind the skirting so there will be no gap above the skirting board so I can just give the walls a fresh covering of the new paint.