Dundas, Ontario The Valley Town Moisture checked before we lay

Carpet Installation in Dundas, ON

Hamilton Carpet Installers measures, supplies and fits carpet throughout Dundas, Ontario, in the settled streets of the Valley Town and in the houses climbing the sides of it.

Bedrooms, halls and staircases

Basement rec rooms below grade

Repairs to floors already down

Ask about a Dundas floor

Tell us the rooms, and whether the basement is part of it.

What can we help with?

Service

So the right crew reviews your project.

Or call (289) 204-6246

What the valley does to a floor

Dundas sits at the bottom of the escarpment, and water goes downhill.

Low ground

Dundas is nicknamed the Valley Town because it sits at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment on the western edge of Lake Ontario, which makes a basement moisture check the first thing we do below grade.

Rain that closes roads

On 20 April 2017 roughly 75 mm of rain in a day brought flash flooding that shut Dundas Street at King Street and Cootes Drive at East Street, so this is not a theoretical worry.

Renovation, not new build

The population here has been steady for decades and the housing turns over by renovation rather than by new subdivisions, so most of our work goes into rooms that already have a floor.

One more thing about Dundas

Cross and Melville Streets

The Cross-Melville Heritage Conservation District is designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act by By-law 90-3899 and covers 38 private properties, so owners there check with the city before work that touches the outside.

Dundas carpet jobs split fairly evenly between the settled streets of the Valley Town and the older houses climbing its sides. Low ground near the escarpment means basements get a moisture check before anything is laid, and older houses get opened up carefully since the surprise is usually under the existing floor. Call (289) 204-6246 and describe the rooms, and we will arrange a time to measure them.

Questions from Dundas homeowners

Is carpet a mistake in a Valley Town basement?

Not on a dry slab, but it is the one room we will not price from a phone call. We look at the floor, the walls and the drainage first, and a moisture barrier under the underpad is quoted as a separate line when the slab calls for it.

Our basement took water once. Can any of the floor be saved?

Sometimes the carpet, almost never the underpad. Pad that has been soaked stays damp under a warm room, so we take it out, let the slab prove itself dry, and only then decide whether the carpet goes back down or gets replaced.

Does a heritage designation change what happens inside the house?

Cross-Melville was designated by By-law 90-3899 over 38 private properties on those two streets. Our work stays inside the rooms, and we ask owners in the district to confirm anything the designation might cover with the city before a start date is set.

Why do you want to see the room before quoting?

Because in houses that have been renovated repeatedly the surprise is always underneath. Layers of old flooring, a patched subfloor or a doorway that has moved all change the material list, and we would rather find them at the measure than on the day.

How we handle the upstairs

Power-stretched properly

Fresh tack strip, an underpad chosen for the room rather than the price list, seams planned so they run with the daylight, and the whole floor power-stretched instead of kicked into place.

Stairs measured on site

Staircases in the older parts of town are steep and often turn, so we count treads and winders on site rather than assuming a standard flight.

One room at a time

We work one room at a time where we can, so a household that is living in the house keeps somewhere to put the furniture and somewhere to sleep.

The Valley Town

Why we check the slab first in Dundas

Dundas sits at the bottom of the Niagara Escarpment on the western edge of Lake Ontario, ground that earned it the nickname the Valley Town. In April 2017 about 75 mm of rain in a single day flooded roads across town, including Dundas Street at King Street, so a basement moisture check is not a theoretical precaution here.

Before we lay anything below grade we look at the slab and the walls, and a moisture barrier goes on the quote as its own line rather than being assumed either way.

Older Dundas houses

What is usually under an old Dundas carpet

Dundas has had a fairly steady population for decades, so most of our work here goes into rooms that already have a floor rather than a new subdivision build. Pulling up an old carpet in these houses, we regularly find previous underlay glued to the boards, tack strip nailed through several generations of holes, and thresholds that no longer line up with the doors.

We allow for lifting all of it and say upfront what happens to the old material, working one room at a time so the household keeps somewhere to put furniture and somewhere to sleep.