We got rid of our carpeting and now our downstairs is colder....?

Question

This past spring, we tore up our wall-to-wall carpeting in favor of the still decent hardwood floors underneath, and now our downstairs is cold. Does anyone know of a way to remedy (or at least minimize) this problem that doesn't involve area rugs? I'd really like to have no rugs at all. Inexpensive would be nice, too, if possible :)

Thanks in advance for all answers!

MAttspratt: What's the best type of insulation to use? I want to know, at least slightly, what I'm talking about when I start nagging my husband to do something about this lol :)

I do have a basement, catsovermen :)

Who is giving out thumbs-down??

The basement is heated, trooper3316 :)

Oops! What kind of filler, queen?

Answer 1

You could look at putting in a few strategically placed baseboard heaters. Because they are so low they radiate heat outward on the floor and this will help quite a bit. They are not terribly expensive to purchase but can be kind of expensive to run if you run them a lot. (Just like any kind of heating). We have several in our basement and they work great.
Take care

Answer 2

One thing I notice when I rip out carpet is the draft from the baseboards.
Where the baseboard meets the wall there usually is a gap and it is usually just barely covered by the carpet. Check this area and seal off any gaps with some filler. It helps a little but generally it is always going to be a little colder without the carpet.
I am a pro-carpet ripper outter. I detest carpet!

Answer 3

I doubt any of these suggstions would help. The cold you are referring to is relative. It was always there, you just didn't feel it with the carpeting. There is very little insulative value to carpeting, it simply put a barrier between your feet and the wood floor.

Heat rises, cold air falls. The coolest air is naturally next to the floor. The only way to correct this would be to heat your basement. The heat would then rise an radiate through the floor. I don't think this would be cost efficient, however.

Answer 4

Raise the heat.

Listen, wood gets cold, when it gets cold outside. That carries through your flooring, in most cases (do you have wooden handrails on any stairs? notice they're cold in the mornings?) This is especially true, if the wood is polished & treated because the enamel on it gets cold, too.

You probably have drafts thru windows and under/around doors. You can always better insulate windows/frames throughout, and subflooring (under the hardwood floors). But, what's done is done.. and you unless you're going to re-do it (which I doubt), you may have to lay a carpet & pull it back up if you want the wood flooring for the warmer months.

Answer 5

Of course it got colder. Take the blaket off your bed, what happens?

The only remedy would be to put insulation under the subflooring. If you are on a basement or a crawl this is possible. If the wood is layed directly on a slab or is above a finished area, wear socks, you'll never get it insulated w/o it being a major project.

Answer 6

Your carpeting acted as insulation there is no good way once you removed it. You could try a small heater, but that takes money to run.

Answer 7

No there is nothing to make it warmer other than Rugs or a small electric heater you can buy for 20 bucks.

Answer 8

umm when u take carpet of the room will ususally get colder so i think you should just raise the heat

Answer 9

Get your kids to ROFL them a few times a day!

Answer 10

INSULTATE UNDER THE FROORS