Will removing carpet affect insulation?

[MizFurball]

Hi Mark and everyone. I haven't needed help in a long time. This is a 1993 Fleetwood 14x66. It has the original carpet (but new vinyl in kitchen and bath). The old carpet isn't stained or ripped, but it has become fuzzy and (with 3 cats) fur adheres to the carpet and doesn't vacuum up well. There is also about 24 years of dust embedded, I am sure. I have looked under the carpet (small view) and it appears to be MDF rather than OSB. My preference would be to rip up the carpet and lay vinyl tiles, but this is financially impossible. If I remove the carpet and lay a coat of Zinsser 1-2-3, then paint the floors, will my electric bill soar? I can't afford that either. My belly is in good condition.

[Greg S]

Although carpet and underlay do have some insulation value, the majority being attributed to the underlay, based on its age the R value is probably less than 1.
Although the floor will feel colder without the carpet the resulting loss of heat will likely be negligible especially in light of the fact that most heat is lost through the ceiling.

[MizFurball]

Thank you so much, JD. This had me quite worried. My birthday is coming up and I have a friend who usually sends me money for my birthday and she knows I am very broke right now after cataract surgeries. If she sends enough, I will do vinyl tiles. If not, seal and paint in a creative pattern. Woohoo!

[Greg]

OK someone help please. There was a thread not too long ago that had pictures of painted Sub floor. It looked almost like a hard wood floor.

The carpet has about zero R value. It is mostly in your head since carpet "feels" warmer on your feet.

Greg

[Greg S]

http://radiantprofessionalsalliance.org ... shion.aspx

This link gives a bit of a break down on carpet/underlay R values. Negligible numbers especially on older carpets where the underlay is disintegrated.

[MizFurball]

This is approximately how I plan to paint the floor.

floor.jpg

[MizFurball]

Thanks, Greg S. When I peeked under the carpet, the pad seemed to be in sad shape.

[ponch37300]

Carpet pad, especially cheap stuff which is usually what I've found in MH turns to dust after a while. I have a 2000 and redid the carpet last year and the old pad was shot.

What are you plans to get the floor to look like that picture? The one in that picture looks like to me they cut squares of 1/4" or so plywood and nailed them down to the floor and then put stain and poly on.

Personally I'm not a fan of the peel and stick vinyl tiles, which is what I'm assuming you mean by vinyl tiles? Or did you mean the troweled glue vinyl tiles like you see in big stores? The peel and stick vinyl I've seen don't hold up and I've seen them start to come up after not a long time. They look nice at first and are easy to do but after a short time they don't look so good. Especially if anything wet gets on them.

[Greg]

I found it.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10004&p=54591&hilit=floor#p54591

I still can't believe how goot it looks.

Greg

[MizFurball]

Very nice job they did, Greg. When I moved in here about 6-1/2 years ago, one went through both front and back doors directly from outside onto the carpet. Carpet was in sad shape in those areas. I cut back the carpet, laid down a coat of B-I-N, and placed cheap sticky vinyl tiles. They have held up well, even though people track in snow, rocks and mud. I realize that might not be true over a large area, since those two areas may not have been subject to much shifting. So, popping tiles is a worry. And paint is much cheaper. I did something similar on the walls in my bathroom over brown construction paper. I would not use the paper on the floors, since the cat claws would shred it. But I can use my paint technique. I don't expect to make it in squares and certainly not glossy like the picture. What I plan is to coat with Zinsser 1-2-3, paint a background coat of dark beige. Then, using a sponge, I will smear and swirl different brown colors along with a metallic gold and a tiny bit of red.
Here is part of the bathroom wall. I have the entire bathroom before and after posted.

[MizFurball]

This picture is better.

[Steve-WA]

Meh, that brown painted floor looks good in the photos, but I'm sure it shows every speck of dirt. I'd like to hear back from industrial-corrugated-metal-ceiling girl on how she feels about their color choice now...

[MizFurball]

Mine will be more mottled and low gloss.

[thatswhoiam]

I'm no authority on the matter, but i can tell you that I ripped out a section of carpet in my hallway, and I was a little aggressive with it b/c it was so difficult to pull up. when i pulled it out, pieces of clear plastic also came through with it, and i suppose this was some type of vapor barrier. The next good rain we had, water seeped through the crevice where the carpet used to meet the wall. I injected some silicone caulk into the void a few times, and eventually it stopped coming through. (no telling where its going now).

[Greg S]

The water is now collecting inside the wall looking for another location to enter your home. Eventually it will cause mold issues and rot your wall studs and base plate. Find where the water is entering the wall and fix it asap.