Carpet over suspended floors

Touchee

A few years ago, we bought a house built in the 1960s. All of downstairs has suspended wooden floors and the rooms are very cold in the winter.

We don’t have the funds to lift the floor, install insulation, as ideally we would wait until we enough money to upgrade the plumbing and electrics.

As a cheaper alternative, I was wondering if installing carpets would make a difference and if there are any risks doing this (condensation, moisture, etc.). In one of the rooms there is also an open fire place.

Any advice would be appreciated. We have two young children and these rooms are unbearably cold in winter.

thank you

EchoIndia

Carpeting would have been the standard approach to flooring living areas when these houses were built. We have a 1960s house with suspended floors and still have carpet in the downstairs sitting rooms. Even with this, they are not naturally warm rooms as you would expect with a modern house, as the external walls don't have insulation. I wouldn't be concerned about condensation issues as it sounds as though your house is far from airtight.

Touchee

Thank you. Yes, the house is far from airtight :) Draughts in every single corner.

If I could, I would sell and buy a new build :)

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058371204/carpet-over-suspended-floors

Any idea what the height is between the suspended floor and the ground. i.e the Crawlspace? You may not need to take up the entire floor if enough space is available.

farmerval

Have a look around for a multilayer slim insulation that you could lay beneath the carpet. There definitely were some products on the market, I remember looking at them 12-14 years ago for an office job. Theses had foil top and bottom layer with insulation layers between and was about 4-6mm thick that was rolled out and laid beneath the carpet.

I'm pretty certain the U value would be very poor but a continuous air tight layer may be beneficial.

what_traffic

My sister got it done on 1930s house over in the UK a few years back, same reason probably as you. Kids came on the scene.

Chicken wire and mineral wool insulation job - 30sq meters. Crawl space of about 4ft under floor allowed 2 lads to get job done in about a day. Allowed them to keep the varnished wooden floor and added 1 big rug to the room(which covered the access hole that was cut out). Well worth it for them.

You could still lay a carpet with or without mineral wool insulation. Cross ventilation under the floor is the key but that will already in place in your case.

This might be useful

https://www.ecologicalbuildingsystems.com/post/best-practice-approach-insulating-suspended-timber-floors

Touchee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122665066#Comment_122665066

The space underneath is quite small, I can see the pipes and the ground if I lift one of the floorboards, the height wouldn’t allow someone to get in and install insulation

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122665237#Comment_122665237

A good underlay and good carpet would certainly help you. Can be taken up again in time if ya have the additional funds for the insulation down the line.

Would not be worrying about condensation at all if ya can feel its drafty under those floorboards on a breezy day like today.

The Continental Op

100% good underlay helps.

Mr321

Yes I think you would notice an improvement with doing it. There's probably vents on the bottom of outside walls to the underfloor?

Touchee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122666714#Comment_122666714

Yes, there are vents on the outside walls to the underfloor. I understand the purpose of the vents, but we might as well be spending the winter outside, that’s how low the temperature is when the heating isn’t on.

Mr321

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122667321#Comment_122667321

Yea so carpet won't cause any issues with condensation etc. 👍

blackbox

It is unlikely that your floor is the main cause of heat loss.

Touchee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122667843#Comment_122667843

I can feel cold air coming through the gaps between the floorboards. The house does need to be completely refurbished, but we’re just trying to make it a little but warmer until such time we have the money to renovate.

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122668072#Comment_122668072

Every bit helps. Do a room at a time and it will make a difference. We're doing that at the moment and don't have wild money for a whole energy refurb.

Air leaks (drafts) will make a room feel colder when the heating is on. And steql the heat in that room.

Have a look at this short video of an easy DIY install of underlay.

https://youtu.be/l7Ovl2WoDkQ?si=thobqOjb99Xn51wy

GreeBo

You could install a vapor control layer (like a house wrap) onto the existing wooden floor and tape all the joints and where it meets skirting boards etc, then underlay/carpet over the top. The VCL and tape will stop drafts and the underlay + carpet will make it feel warmer to the touch plus act like a minimal insulation.

The carpet grippers will of course put some holes through the VCL but should be a lot better than without it.

Under suspended wooden floors is effectively outside, hence why its freezing and windy.