How to upgrade the flooring in a rental without violating your lease

Q: Is there a way to change the flooring in my apartment without doing anything that would cause problems with my landlord when I eventually move out?

A: Yes, you have several options.

One option that's especially suitable if you expect to move relatively soon: an area rug to cover up stains, add a splash of color or define a seating area. The rug can be large, covering all but a narrow perimeter around the room, or it can be small and strategically placed.

The big concern is how to keep the rug from bunching up and becoming a tripping hazard, especially when placed over carpet. Carpet and the padding underneath create so much cushioning that foot pressure pushes the rug down and causes the rug fabric to inch toward the pressure point. Placing heavy furniture on the edges doesn't stop that from happening; it just shifts where the movement takes place.

To anchor an area rug, use double-stick tape or a rug pad. YYXLIFE double-sided carpet tape (listed at $9.97 for a roll 2 inches wide by 10 yards long on Amazon) works over virtually any kind of flooring, including carpet. To remove it later, you can soften the adhesive with a hair dryer, then "roll it like it's Elmer's glue on your hands" to pull it away, according to the manufacturer's instructions.

How to clean and care for hardwood floors

Or you can use a mat to hold the rug in place. Be sure to get one labeled as safe for wood floors if that's what's in your apartment; some mats leave a residue. Over carpet, you’ll need a carpet-to-carpet rug pad, such as the Grip-It magic stop rug pad ($28.49 on Amazon for one that's 5-by-7 feet, although these pads come as large as 12-by-18 feet).

You can also cover tired or dated flooring with one of the huge array of tile-type options available. There are peel-and-stick tiles and planks; styles that interlock like puzzle pieces; ones that click together edge to edge and ones that press into place using removable adhesive or Velcro-type fasteners. Carpet, wood, cushioned foam, vinyl, true linoleum, cork — virtually anything other than ceramic tile or stone is available for covering hard flooring. You can even cover just part of the floor with carpet pieces, creating an area rug effect.

Many of these options — with the exception of peel-and-stick or press-down tiles — also work over low-pile carpeting without padding. Vinyl planks, which come in styles that mimic wood and stone, and laminate planks with click-together edges work well.

But if you are covering padded carpet, especially if it is shag or high pile, you will need a stable base, so first cover the floor with ¼-inch-thick plywood. Otherwise, as people walk over the floor, all the padding can allow the planks to move up and down enough to come loose. Arrange the plywood sheets so the long dimension runs in the opposite direction to the way you will install planks. Stagger the seams between the plywood sheets and tape them together with duct tape. Even with that, it might be difficult to achieve a stable, even surface over a shag carpet or one that has big holes that have worn through. On the other hand, if that shag carpet is ugly or dirty enough, a new floor that isn't completely flat might still be a big improvement. Have the carpet cleaned and deodorized first, especially if odor is one reason you want to cover it.

Before you buy new flooring, make sure there will still be enough clearance to allow doors to open and close freely. And check how easy it is to trim edge pieces to fit your room's dimensions. If you want the flooring to extend from room to room or through hallways, also check whether you need expansion gaps in each space, which can be tricky to get right when you are dealing with multiple rooms. Flooring that clicks together edge-to-edge needs these gaps; if you don't leave them, the flooring can buckle and you’ll hear it move up and down as you walk. (On permanent installations, installers cover this gap by baseboards or quarter-inch-round "shoe" molding nailed to the baseboard, never the floor. For a rental situation, though, you might want to skip this.) If you’re trying to cover a cold concrete or tile floor, look for tiles or planks that have built-in cushioning, which acts as insulation so the floor is more pleasant to walk or play on.

It's also possible to install sheet vinyl over old, hard flooring. It might stay in place from its own weight. Or, if needed, you could add double-stick tape at the edges to keep it in place, especially at a doorway where dirt can get underneath and raise the vinyl enough to be a tripping hazard. Consider hiring a professional to cut the vinyl so it fits precisely, or watch how-to videos on how to install loose-lay vinyl sheets.

What about installing new carpet over old and using the old carpet as padding? This is possible too, but to anchor the new carpet you would need tack strips at the edge, and the old carpet would still need tack strips or it would shift. To accomplish this, the installer might need to cut away a band of carpet a few inches wide around the perimeter of the room — not a step the landlord would be happy with if you were to remove your carpet when you move.

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