felt backed carpet - laying onto plywood or similar?

[bendeneo]

Hello all,

I am planning on putting down felt backed carpet on to my extremely drafty floorboards in the front room.

I have a number of air bricks that are under the floorboard level which will provide the correct level of ventilation to stop any rot.

My plan is to screw down some large plywood (or similar) sheets and then lay felt backed carpet onto them.

Any hints tips or advice as to whether this is a good idea or not?

Regards,

Ben

 

[lymmranger]

Yes, it is a very good idea...

You only need to use a "thin" board if its purpose is to cut down the draughts. 4mm ply is relatively cheap and can be cut with a stanley knife.
most fitters would use ring shank nails or staples to fix it.
Screws will be more labour intensive but do allow the boarding to be lifted at some future date.
Although felt back carpet does not require underlay, you should consider fitting it - PU underlays have a film which also helps cut down the draught

 

[mointainwalker]

What you propose will cut down draught but will still be cold.

If you wished to improve this, you would need to insulate between the joists which can be done by lifting the boards or from underneath the floor if you have access..

That is considerably more work, but once you have the new ply and carpet down, it would be that much more work if you ever decided to do it, unlesse you have the underfloor access mentioned.

 

[bendeneo]

Thanks guys.

Thin ply seems the way to go then.

I agree it will still be cold, but to be fair the room will end up being more of a kids room, as now I am a bit older I will spend more time in the kitchen which has its own telly and sofa..... therefore the kids rushing about will warm it up pretty quick.

I still toy with the idea of putting down insulation, but I know that after building an extension (the kitchen in question) my wife just cant put up with any more mess.... it has taken me 2 years to do it and the place still hasnt recovered from the dust!

I also toyed with the idea of creating my own underfloor heating by creating a kind of heating element effect under the boards using copper pipe and removing the radiators, and then doing what I have described above (ply + felt back).

If i did go down that route (and I think the wife would kill me) do you think I would lose a lot of heat into the void and create a nice place for animals to live?!?!?

Regards,

Bendeneo

 

[bendeneo]

NB - some talk of the use of a knee kicker with felt back and some dont, what is your opinion?

 

[mointainwalker]

Re: UFH - how thick are your boards ?

You would intend then to insulate under the pipes, wouldn't you ?

 

[flooring123pean]

This is not such a bad idea, but as a flooring contractor I would investigate the use of fibre board instead. It will give better thermal and acoustic properties and probably won't cost anymore.