Where Should You Avoid Using Carpet in your House?

Carpet is a very nice addition to any room in the home. It provides warmth, insulation, beauty, and comfort. But did you know that there are some places where you should avoid putting carpet even though it might temporarily look great. And, when the carpet installers come in to do the job, you should be alert of these locations. If you have these “no carpet” areas pointed out beforehand, the carpet installers can cut around them and leave them open.

You should not install carpet at the entranceway to the house from the outside. The reasons are obvious. People come in and track dirt, mud, and who knows what on their shoes. This is an area you should measure off so that when the carpet installers are finished, you can have tile or some other hard, weather-resistant flooring installed.

Here’s something people may not think about if they are having carpet installed in a very old home. If you happen to be laying carpet over old tiles, determine if the old tiles are made of asbestos. If they are, it is better to not disturb them and glue the carpet down instead of nail it. If you disturb them or try to remove them, you will stir up asbestos dust. But if you must, make sure you wear a mask.

Here’s one you might not think of: Some people like to make their basements into just another room such as a weight or game area. Don’t put carpet in it. If you live in an area where there is a risk of flooding (and even in dry desert areas there is somewhat of a risk of flash flooding), the basement is the first place that will get flooded. It does not have to be a flood either. Sometimes, a backed up sewer line can flood your basement and there goes the carpet. That means your carpet is ruined. Not only this, but basements tend to be very musty and damp places so your carpet is at a risk of mildew even if you don’t get flooded.

Although you can put carpet over heated floors, make sure that you consider the R-factor rating before purchasing it. The R-factor is metric that indicates the resistance to heat (it is a measure of insulation). If you have a high R-factor in the carpet then it prevents heat from coming up through the heated floor below. It shields the top environment from the bottom heated environment. You have set the water temperature of the heated floor higher and the whole system has to work harder. If you are putting carpet over a heated floor, just make sure the R-factor is around 2.0.

And lastly, you may not want to put carpet in places like bathrooms and kitchens because of the moisture and the potential for spills. This would apply to family dining areas too.

Anyplace else is fair game for carpet.

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