Ratty Carpeting Glued to Asphalt Tiling with no Padding


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Old 06-22-14, 07:40 AM
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Ratty Carpeting Glued to Asphalt Tiling with no Padding

I bought a house about 6 months ago and I've been doing small projects to improve its appearance/quality of life, but I've avoided doing anything too big. We have big plans in the next 3-5 years that will render most of our improvements moot at that point. (Turning a house with excessive hallways into an open floor plan).

We have a den behind the kitchen with a no-pile carpet over an asphalt floor. I've ascertained that it is glued down and has no padding underneath.

We are eventually tearing down the walls on either side of the kitchen (living room's on the other side) and redoing all of this to be one of those big eat in kitchen/living rooms, so we don't want to spend too much money right now on improvements.

But this carpet is gross and too thin. It has random stains and when we spill things on it, we can't mop anything back up. It just seeps all the way through. The ground is also hard. I've tripped on our hardwood floors and got mild bruises. I've tripped on this carpet and it seriously feels like hitting the asphalt directly and have had major bruising. We also dropped a wine glass at one point from a low-height and it completely shattered.

I've been doing research and everything says not to put carpet over carpet. But if we were only planning on having something for 3-5 years, would this change that suggestion? (Especially if we plan on ripping everything up?) What would you do in this situation to make this room a little more bearable?

Thanks for any help!
 
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Old 06-22-14, 07:58 AM
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Welcome to the forums! Surely the builder didn't use a petroleum based "asphalt" as a floor certainly it must be concrete. Asphalt is black, concrete is naturally gray. You are right, carpet on carpet is not done. Even if you are making long range plans, you will eventually have to remove the glued down carpet, so do it now, get rid of the stains and smells.

Be sure, before you go tearing down walls, that you enlist the services of a structural engineer to give blessings on modifications. You don't want your ceiling where your floor is, now.
 
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Old 06-22-14, 09:45 AM
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Thanks! I mean by asphalt, it's asphalt tiling. The previous owners put this in on their own as an extension.

Thanks for making sure with the structural engineer. Most the walls are not load bearing at all, but one is (which will be more complicated).

I'm actually pretty sure it's asphalt tiling with asbestos :-/ It's the same tiling he used when building an exterior build-shop. A lot of their add-ons seem to be cheaply done.
 
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Old 06-22-14, 09:48 AM
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"Surely the builder didn't use a petroleum based "asphalt" as a floor certainly it must be concrete."

And joke because I have to,

They did use asphalt, and don't call me Shirley!
 
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Old 06-22-14, 10:16 AM
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What year do you think the tiles were installed? What are the measurements of the tile? You may not have an asbestos problem, but need to make sure. They still won't be "asphalt", but vct or another vinyl derivative. Now the cut back glue may be asphalt based.
 
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Old 06-22-14, 10:51 AM
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Only way to be sure if they contain asbestos is to have them tested. They made 9x9 and 12x12 both for years containing asbestos. The adhesive normally had more than the tiles. You are not supposed to put carpet over carpet, but I have stretched carpet over commercial or rubberback using it for pad. I have done it many times, for people who didn't want to remove the old for one reason or another. You just have to find an installer willing to do it and realize that there will be no warranty on the carpet or labor.
 
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Old 06-23-14, 03:53 PM
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They are 9" by 9" and installed sometime between 1957 and 1960. Thanks for the help everyone!
 
 

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