Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Floors

I just went around our house lifting up carpet in random places. What I found: this house has hardwood floors. Even the stairs. I'm resisting going through and ripping up all the carpet myself. That is incredibly hard for me. I must be logical:

1. We don't own the house. I'd have to get permission from Bert. Plus any money we invest in doing this wouldn't have a return unless we bought the house someday.
2. That's a big job. I've never done anything like it. Where would I put the carpet I pull up? What kind of tools do I need? Brandon's pretty busy, will I be able to do most of it myself?
3. Financially we couldn't refinish the floors underneath. Will the floors as is be better than the gross carpet on top?

I must resist pulling carpet up for now, or at least until Brandon gets home.

4 comments:

Rixa said...

It's really easy to rip up the old carpet. It's attached with these little nailed-down strips with teeth along the perimeter of the walls. You'd need a pry bar and hammer to pull those up. There might be some carpet tape on the floor if you have seams in the middle of the floor, but that's it (if there is tape residue, you could buy an adhesive remover from a hardware store to get it off).

From the parts you can see, how does the floor look? As long as the finish is basically intact, it's fine to use as is. Even if the finish is somewhat worn, or if there are scratches, it's still perfectly functional. Refinishing floors is an aesthetic thing anyway.

Brittany recently did the same thing in her new apartment. She got permission from her landlord, ripped the carpets out, then put on a new coat of varnish that's meant to go on top of wood floors without refinishing them. You just mop it on. But even that is an optional step. I'd say go for it! Tell your landlord you'll pull up the carpets and supply all the labor/cleanup.

You might be able to Freecycle the carpets and pads. Some people use them for mulch/weed control in gardens. Your trash company might pick them up on garbage day. Sometimes this requires an extra fee and you have to call ahead and arrange a special pickup.

Kent said...

I wouldn't touch it until sometime when Eric and Rixa come to visit.

Unknown said...

Oooooo, so tempting. I'm impressed you haven't done it yet.

Sparklebot said...

I'd check with the landlord and then rip the nasty carpet up. I'd rather have roughed up hardwood than gross carpet, any day.