I want to pull up the carpet in my living room 225 sq ft and put down laminate. Is this something someone can do without training? Laminate it self is so cheap, but the then estimates are giving me up to 2k to do the job. I watched a lot of "This Old House" with my grandparents back in the day.

Any DIYer did a job like this?

 

Pulling up the carpet itself might not be a problem. What could potentially cause you an issue is the tack strips that run around the room. If the strips are in concrete it's a bit trickier to pull the strips out. Oh, and do you have quarter round trim? The strips could be UNDER the quarter round.

Before you make any decisions, carpet helps heat the room. If this room is on the slab it will make the room cooler if you remove the carpet.

Honestly, I find that most people that remove their carpets and put down a tile usually end up throwing rugs around the room because the tiles are much harder on your feet when you walk around the room. The carpeting provides a much softer surface.

Now before you lay down the tile, make sure you sweep the room as much as you can. Particles on the floor can cause the stick down tile to not adequately stick to the ground. Also make sure that you measure out your tile placement. You don't want to just start from one end and then have to cut these really skinny pieces on the other side of the room. They won't stick if properly if they're too thin.

If this is on an upper level, then a laminate stick down tile is fine. However, if this is on concrete, I would suggest getting a floating plank floor with an underlayment to be a much more safe bet than straight up laying tile on concrete.

Wait you never said that you're doing a stick down tile. Are you trying to do a tongue and groove plank?

Here's a good video talking about removing the tack strip from concrete:

 

Thanks! I had been watching how to guides on youtube, it's how I did most the handy work in the bathroom already. I wasn't sure if this was too big for me to take on. I didn't think about it being colder in here if we remove the carpet. A+ for the advice on that. This room is quite drafty already because of the big window and the back door in the room. I was thinking of doing a partial removal of the carpet now, I saw some ideas on Pinterest. Going to probably have to call a carpenter for that since it requires a border around the carpet. I really particularly hate the carpet around the back door and wanted to just put laminate down around the door and a "walkway" to the hallway. That hallway leads to the front door. I think it would be nicer if it was all wood since we have a townhouse it's hard to go from the back to front or front to back any other way then going through the house.

 

Bumping this thread to say I've still been getting estimates and it's way more than I thought. I think I might do the stick and peel vinyl flooring. I actually had vinyl in a high traffic room in my old house, where my parents kept the pets. But, not sure if it was the peel and stick. Anyone has this stuff in their home? It had pretty good reviews on homedepot.com

 

Peel and stick is fine for a while, but will eventually wear out and start chipping and coming up in corners. Got to make sure the floor is really clean before doing it. Otherwise the glue won't hold very long

This summer I'm actually going to remodel my office and lay down artificial hardwood. I hate having carpet in there and it causes book shelves and display cabinets to lean some and I need to secure them to the wall

 

After how many years does it start to come undone? What about regular vinyl? and Thanks for the tip! I would really like to do this on my own and save several thousand, which I don't have!  . I adopted 2 cats and our carpet is taking a big hit. I wish I could give them back.

 

when we bought our house i did our floors because we were cash strapped. i did the bulk of the house. i actually just came back and did my office a few years later. second time around was a breeze. id feel comfortable doing small scale projects for cash now.

i pulled up old laminate flooring and carpet. laid vinyl planks.

i learned everything from youtube. watched tons of videos from different people getting different views and opinions. tons of videos... to be honest youtube was like being in class listening to lectures and the project was a practical. my first run through was basically a course on how to rip certain floors, made certain cuts, lay planks and cut/run trim etc.. had the tools and went to work. took my time and it came out looking professional. probably took me 5-10 times longer than a pro, but i learned and didnt cheat myself. smooth tansitions between rooms.. undercutting frames etc..

the office was done in basically 1-2 days. would have been a few hours if the office was clear and i only did the floors. BUT that was removing all stuff from the office, ripping carpet, cleaning floor, checking the level, pulling tacks from concrete, laying underlay, cutting planks/trim/laying, painting/edging, building new flatpack furniture and restocking the office with everything. i didnt have to level the concrete any so that was good. a hammer and chisel towards the nails popped the tack strips fairly easy, then i pulled them with a nail puller/crow bar thing i have. i didnt fill the chips the old nails left in the concrete and everything was fine

 

If you are planning to laminate more then one room, maybe try to do the smaller of the rooms first to see how good you are at doing it.

 

I've been watching on youtube, I think the worst thing for us would be to move all the furniture out of the room.

It's just 1 room.

 

What are you using guys to clean your home? I made a new house a few months ago.

 

Is this question for me? I am planning to use just a regular vacuum... Then peel and stick vinyl, but I decided I am going to wait til the carpet is not new anymore. The carpet was new-ish when we moved in.

 

we have a nice expensive name brand vacuum.. however, i prefer to use a 50 dollar generic shop vac with a couple of filters

 

But isn't a big issue for me. But I need a reliable one. Which will help me to clean easily and comfortably. Though I found a few vendors for carpet cleaning on the Internet. Are they reliable?

Please let me know.

 

I think the best brands/more popular ones are supposed to be Dyson and Shark. Oreck vacuums have their own stores if you want to get really fancy.

 

yeah our expensive dyson is nice. its runs really well if you maintain the actual vacuum and keep all the internals spotless. if you dont keep everything clean and new like, it starts to run like some reject store 25 dollar whatever. the cheap no name shop vac requires lil to no maintenance and cleans like a boss.. guess it depends on ones floor and climate. plus things like kids, pets and other hairy beasts like me and the wifes horse hair etc..

 

Why is the horse in the house?