We bought our house 2 months ago. We didn't mind the carpet. It is very nice carpet. However, the house was built in 1955 and has origional hardwood floors under the carpet. Here is the problem... it looks like there are hardwoods, a new sub floor and the carpet. My concern is that removing the sub floor will ruin the floors under. What has your expirance been?
After having just removed the carpeting in my house, I can tell you this: if they put a subfloor on top of hardwood, there was something wrong with the hardwood. It is not necessary in order to lay carpet. Padding and tack boards are all that are needed--which really don't ruin the hardwood. (You may want to fill a few nail holes from the tack strips.) Lots of houses have hardwood that is only finished around the edges--if you pull up the subfloor and find unfinished board flooring, that's one reason they laid the subfloor. Another reason might be that there was bad damage to the hardwood which made it uneven. A finished hardwood floor rarely needs subfloor for carpeting unless it is damaged or otherwise totally unusable as hardwood flooring. Since your house was built in 1955, it could have very badly damaged floors. There is only one way to check that--pull up the carpet in a corner, and the subfloor under that--and check. If the floors are not damaged, then the only damage will be from nail holes--which can be filled, sanded and revarnished.
