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Home Decorating

Replacing Outdoor Porch Carpet

12 years ago

Our front porch is carpeted over concrete steps. It needs new carpet and we wonder if anyone knows a maker/model that is high quality. I have tried looking online but only get to the same old sites that are not very helpful. When I went to local carpet stores the owners/sales clerks were not that knowledgeable. We had pretty good non-grass carpet but were looking for higher quality. When I posted over in the flooring forum no one had any suggestions. I was hoping this time someone would.

Thanks.

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Comments (6)

anncarolyn
12 years ago
I can't help you with finding new outdoor carpet however, I can tell you what I did for my mother's front porch that had been covered in carpet for years. It was so hard to keep clean and got wet and moldy and each year Mom would ask me to remove it. I finally bit the bullet two years ago, scrapped up the old carpet and scrapped up as much glue as possible (BIG JOB, the porch is large.) I then laid tile and I must admit, it turned out very nice! It has lasted trhrough two summers and one very cold (ice and snow) winter and there is not one crack in the tile. It is so much easier to keep clean. Just a thought if you cannot find carpet you like.
work_in_progress_08
12 years ago
Another vote for opting for something other than carpet. The previous poster wrote exactly what I was thinking. Also, from a safety standpoint, I think tile or some other material would last longer and provide you with a nice appearance.
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I mean, outdoor carpets are "outdoor" because they're made to handle a little dampness or rain. And without *disagreeing* with what's been said, screened porches all over the country, as well as garden sheds etc., have (treated) wood directly on slabs, and while they may not last a century I don't think the OP is planning for her new outdoor carpet to outlast us all, either. OP, do you find damp spots on that current carpet because of damp rising through the slab, or is this like a screened porch or something--you just said, "Enclosed porch," which makes it seem like you use it as an outdoor space rather than as a living room, and continually refer to it as a "porch," but then you say you don't think it was ever an outdoor space. Which is it? Is it like an enclosed porch with large screen windows? Or is it a full-on drywalled room that was made from a porch years ago? Because it seems silly to rip up the slab etc. if rain gets in there because half the wall is screen. (And afaik people don't put that horrible astroturf carpet down unless they see the space as at least somewhat "outdoor," unless they just need a really cheap floor covering, lol.) For what do you use this space, OP? What kind of room is it? Again, I absolutely do not mean to argue with you, @SJ McCarthy, or denigrate your expertise--I agree 100% that wood and concrete can be close but shouldn't be directly touching each other; it's generally best that they have a little chaperone between them. I just think there's no need for the OP to spend a lot of extra money to waterproof a floor and hire professionals if we're talking about what is essentially an outdoor room, anyway, or even a room that just needs a little dehumidifier for rainy days. (And couldn't a couple of coats of a good elastomeric sealer work, anyway? It'll keep water from entering CMU walls from wind-driven rain, so couldn't it keep a little vapor from rising into a carpet?) I just don't think we know enough about the room, the way it's enclosed, and/or the way it's used to jump to thousands of dollars of concrete work.
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cheerpeople
12 years ago
I have had a rug that was intended for outdoor use.It lasted only 3 summers and it didn't even have to be out there in the snow as I rolled it up.
It got moldy and ripped apart by the 3rd summer.
disappointing.
lizzie_nh
12 years ago
Yes - I was going to say that you might not find knowledgeable clerks or ideas for carpet on here because people don't usually do the carpet-over-concrete thing anymore. It looks dated and can become a mess. I'd tile, or put a stone veneer (essentially a tile) and if you still want extra gripping power, you can put down mats.
erinsean
12 years ago
We have indoor/outdoor carpet on our front porch. We put it there because our cement porch became slick when it got wet. To my way of thinking the tile would get slick also. I have thought of taking up the carpet and painting the cement with a paint with sand in it (for want of a better discription). Do prefer the carpet though it probably isn't the right thing anymore.
dianalo
12 years ago
I was wondering if anyone has tried cork in an outdoor space? Could it be sealed? We need something for our screened in porch and tile seems so hard and cold. I had planned on stain, but the contractors did some sort of chemical spill, so there is an area that is completely a mess on the surface, not to mention it has a big crack.
I was actually considering sheet linoleum, but the cork would be a lot softer....

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