Carpet Over Semi Solid Floors?

Hi,

This may be a silly question but I am a girl who officially knows nothing about D.I.Y./flooring etc. I am moving into a 2nd hand house with semi solid flooring in the living area. Not too keen on the colour but have been advised not to take up the floors as they add value etc. if I want to sell on at some stage. However I was wondering if it is possible to carpet over these floors without damaging them if we decide to remove the carpet at a later stage??

Any advise much appreciated

probably be impossible not to damage the floors. The standard way to fit carpet is by using narrow strips of wood that have loads of tiny nails sticking up and they grip the carpet. i think its called gripper. That gripper has to be attached ot the existing floor somehow to be able to hold the carpet tight...

Would you consider large rugs on the floors instead?

The gripper is usually only around the perimeter of the room and is usually secured with nails, every four feet or so. This wouldn't cause a huge amount of damage, and the nail holes could always be filled if the gripper is ever removed in the future.

I think that gripper strips are only required with wool blend carpets to prevent shrinkage after the carpets are stretched when fitting. With the bulk of modern carpets grippers are not used. The carpet is retained around the edges using a spray adhesive, such as "Floorwise F599" which prevents the carpet pulling away from the skirting board and around thresholds etc. This adhesive could probably be removed using white spirit at a later date, so should be possible to "reinstate" the original semi-solid floor. A good carpet supplier or fitter should be able to give definitive advice.

Many thanks for the responses guys... I have a lot to learn on this one!!! Am off to the carpet showrooms this coming weekend so I will ask for their advice too

I originally wanted to carpet over a tiled floor. Was told it would be no problem as instead of nailing gripper rods down, they just glue them down instead.

Only slight problem was that the fitter would have to come the day before to lay the adhesive and gripper rods as it needs a day to set before you can lay the carpet.