# Built-In Entertainment center over carpet?



## bndawgs (Oct 21, 2016)

I have an area in my basement that I am interested in building an entertainment center for. It's currently carpeted with baseboard molding. I'm assuming I should removed the baseboard molding, but could i get away with leaving the carpet? I don't necessarily want to cut the carpet and fool with re-tacking it in front of the center.

The bump-in, is is the space I'm working with 









And I was thinking of doing something similar to this









Looking for any feedback or suggestions as well. Thanks


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## them700project (Aug 12, 2015)

If you leave it and the basement flows you will have some mold issues.

What you could do and this may be crazy but you could float the whole thing 3" and cover with base molding. If water ever became an issue you could pull base molding replace carpet and put base back. this would also prevent damage to cabinets. though the sheetrock itself would still get wet.


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## 000 (Dec 9, 2015)

You can do it, I've done it more than once. 
One of the problems you will see over time is that the unit will settle and the crown will pull away from the ceiling.

I think you would be better served to cut it though, 
even if you have to find a carpet guy to tack it back down for you. It shouldn't cost much.


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## Ted78 (Dec 3, 2012)

Being in a basement, I'd be concerned with flooding also, either from rain or just a broken pipe or something. If you ever need to pull the carpet up to dry things out you don't want it permanently stuck under there.


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## bndawgs (Oct 21, 2016)

> You can do it, I ve done it more than once.
> One of the problems you will see over time is that the unit will settle and the crown will pull away from the ceiling.
> 
> I think you would be better served to cut it though,
> ...


I've read about the sinking issue while building on carpet. But if I anchor it to the back wall in some fashion, wouldn't that help avoid the sinking?

My original thought was to build a 2×4 base and then basically build 4 boxes for the bottom, sides, and top.

I'm just thinking in terms of returning the space to how it is in the future for any reason.


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## bndawgs (Oct 21, 2016)

In the event of a flood, I would assume the lower portion would be ruined and have to be removed anyways right?

Thanks for the feedback so far, I didn't even think about potential flooding issues.


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## 000 (Dec 9, 2015)

> I ve read about the sinking issue while building on carpet. But if I anchor it to the back wall in some fashion, wouldn t that help avoid the sinking?
> 
> - bndawgs


Anchor it all you want, It will still settle. JMO
You can always just re-caulk when it does if your set on doing it.


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## JBrow (Nov 18, 2015)

bndawgs,

I assume that you plan to build this project as four separate components; identical twin towers connected by the bridge built as the third unit, and the base as the fourth unit. The twin towers would attach to the wall and bridge would attach to the wall and to the twin towers.

I would think that if the base were built with a height that is about 4" short of the distance from the floor to the bottom of the twin tower cabinets and cabinet levelers installed on the base cabinet, the carpet and base boards could be left in place, a measure of flood protection achieved, and carpet tack strip problems avoided. Additionally, if the base cabinet is attached to the wall, the leg levelers would probably bear less weight and reduce the carpet crushing tendency of the full weight of a base cabinet. Some toe kick clips could be attached to the toe kick board and it would then snap into place on the cabinet leveler legs.

Here is a link to the cabinet leg levelers that come to mind.

https://www.richelieu.com/us/en/category/furniture-equipment/cabinet-levelers/451-series-abs-levelers/abs-levelers-with-head-20-mm-5-mm-adjustment/1015873


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

You beat me.

You could set the unit on euro legs. If it floods you can pop the toe kick off and use a fan to dry it out.

That being said removal is probably best. I've done it both ways.


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## bndawgs (Oct 21, 2016)

thanks guys for the help and suggestions so far. i have a lot more to think about now, which is good.

i also need to get started on some measurements and designs.


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## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

Remove the carpet and build it right. Move the tack strip from the back wall out to the new edge and you're done.


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## gargey (Apr 11, 2016)

Tear down house, build on pylons above ground level, then should be fine to have something on carpet.


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## bndawgs (Oct 21, 2016)

thanks guys for the help and suggestions so far. i have a lot more to think about now, which is good.

i also need to get started on some measurements and designs. 


> Tear down house, build on pylons above ground level, then should be fine to have something on carpet.
> 
> - gargey


lol, that reminds me of that homes by holmes show. where the people would have a small spot of mold in the closet and he'd have to tear off the roof, the front of the house and re-pave the driveway to prevent it from happening again.


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## MrStyle (Aug 30, 2013)

cut the carpet back, build a platform for the cabinets - which will allow you to create a perfectly flat and level surface - which will save you so much time over trying to level on carpet !

Write down the idea of building on carpet on a piece of paper - and then burn it in sacrifice to the "hey this out to save me some hassle idea bucket !"


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## bndawgs (Oct 21, 2016)

So after taking some measurements, I had a couple questions. They're probably silly ones, but I don't have much experience building large furniture. Originally, I wanted to just use a full sheet of plywood cut to width for the top and bottom of the bottom cabinet and then add in vertical pieces for dividers. However the opening is actually 106" wide. I could just break the bottom piece up into 3 separate cabinets, but I wanted to have a solid surface showing for the top piece. I didn't necessarily want to order any custom wood pieces as I was hoping to just get everything from HD or Lowes. So my other thought was to have the side pieces go from floor to ceiling, which would take care of the width issue, but then the design would have to be modified and I feel that it would look funny.


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## JackDuren (Oct 10, 2015)

Don't cut the carpet back. Permanent today and want to move it out 5 years from now. Mine was wall to wall and I took it out years ago because I wanted to move the room around from time to time. Thankfully the carpet was still in…


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## JBrow (Nov 18, 2015)

bndawgs,

A filler strip and/or wide end stiles could look a little odd if left as flat stock. However, the extra wide end stiles could be dressed up with some moulding, bringing the scale of the these wide end piece more in line with the scale of the overall project.

Since the photo links are no longer active I can only go on memory. My recollection is a pair of upper cabinets that set on a top which sets on the base cabinet. These upper cabinets are on the ends leaving a wide center opening with a bridging cabinet at the ceiling spanning between the upper cabinets. If this is correct, then a sheet of 8' plywood could be edge banded with a board that is long enough to span the opening and wide enough so that the front of the upper cabinets set atop the edge banding. The plywood would be centered on the longer edge banding. The back portions of the upper end cabinets could set on some plywood joined to the 8' long plywood, since this portion of the top would be unseen and a seam would not be apparent. Looking at the Lowe's web site, it appears red oak and polar in 10' lengths are available at my local store.

The last option that comes to mind is to glue-up a solid wood top with lumber from Lowe's or from a local hardwood lumber dealer. The local hardwood dealer would likely offer other species in 10' lengths and they may also offer to turn the 4/4 rough lumber into ¾" x width x length surfaced on all sides. A Google search for "Hardwood Lumber Dealers in Northern Virginia" reveals NOVA (perhaps only a flooring store), Vienna Hardwoods, and Colonial Hardwoods. If you are not up for a glue-up, perhaps one of these dealers could direct you to a shop that would make the top for you. They may also be able to special order a 10' long sheet of plywood, if this is your preferred material for the top.


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## Ocelot (Mar 6, 2011)

Shipwright has some thread about how to skarf plywood to make it as long as you like. He used to make boats using 24' long plywood - scarfed together from 3 8' sheets.

I made a bookshelf unit 12.5 ' wide and 8+' high one time. I removed the carpet under it… but it was old carpet anyway. I also moved 2 electric outlets out to the base of the unit - in a sort of face piece which ran the full width.

-Paul


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## bndawgs (Oct 21, 2016)

Here's the pics again since Photobucket decided to become lousy.

I might end up just building 3 boxes and then trying to glue up a couple long strips of hardwood for the top. I'm planning on painting it, so the joints might not be too noticeable.

How far from the front edge should I end up? Being custom, I know there's not really a standard. But I'm wanting to make it easy for myself when it comes to adding trim.


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## JBrow (Nov 18, 2015)

bndawgs,

If I understand the question, it seems that determining the depth of the cabinetry starts with deciding how much of the side walls of the alcove you wish to remain visible after the cabinets and trim are installed. I personally like at least ¾" from an outside corner of a wall to a cabinet. This "margin of safety" is generally good unless the walls are far out of plumb.

Then the maximum distance the moulding projects from the cabinet can be considered. I assume any vertical trim would be mounted flat against the cabinet, which is not as much distance as angled crown moulding, like that in the photo. Angled crown can project outward from the cabinet by from 2-1/8" to as much 3-4/4" or more if the crown moulding is unusually wide. Once the distance the moulding projects outward from the cabinet and the "margin of safety" are BOTH subtracted from the alcove opening depth into which the cabinet will set, the outside depth of the cabinet is found.

Things get a little more complicated if the base cabinets project out into the room more than the upper cabinets. But working from the corner of the alcove back into the alcove from the "margin of safety" should reveal the maximum outside cabinet depth.

Here is a reference that shows approximate wall and ceiling coverage of typical crown moulding…

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i0.wp.com/sawdustgirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/common_crown_molding_angles.jpg%3Ffit%3D640%252C467&imgrefurl=http://sawdustgirl.com/common-crown-molding-angles/&h=467&w=640&tbnid=kJ4mYA4MwZV4ZM:&tbnh=154&tbnw=210&usg=__eoWaj4_9viuH3zU6VDg-9t1yPWw=&vet=10ahUKEwjZ55f_3YLVAhUHOSYKHdm5DNgQ9QEITzAA..i&docid=egsgoi2L6EKeYM&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZ55f_3YLVAhUHOSYKHdm5DNgQ9QEITzAA#h=467&imgdii=Xp2wjEAPhh8pAM:&tbnh=154&tbnw=210&vet=10ahUKEwjZ55f_3YLVAhUHOSYKHdm5DNgQ9QEITzAA..i&w=640


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