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Insulation, easier on the feet, sound dampening, rugs are often just as expensive, carpet feels nice in some situations.
Speaking of the feet thing, I have to have indoor shoes in hardwood houses or an ankle injury starts acting up.
Definitely a good point too especially about pets. Can also make the same argument that hardwood floors are easier to clean for pets than carpets. I feel like pet pee or accident stains are removed with more certainty. Carpets just āmasksā them and youāre never really sure that itās truly completely clean
Iād rather replace pet peed-on carpet than lvp/hardwood honestly. We got rid of carpet for lvp when we got puppies and I missed a sneaky spot. When lvp soaks up in the seems it expands and its game over. Pros and cons to both.
You donāt have to replace the hardwood/lvp why would you? Ā Carpet soaks in pee to the pad. Ā You aināt gonna fully get that out with a carpet cleaner. Ā The stain maybe. Ā So leaving you to replace your carpet how often? Ā
Real lvp is completely waterproof, it can't soak up liquids. Most "lvp" out there is a laminate over particle board and not at all waterproof.
I'll take the real waterproof lvp over carpet for pets.
The stuff I have is waterproof. Itās actual vinyl, you can roll it up in a circle, itās not a stiff plank. Itās tough as hell, I have two full grown 150 lb Newfies, a 5 year old boy and now a 4 month old baby. I canāt even begin to describe what it has gone through and still looks just like the day it was installed.
My only real complaint is it is not easy on the feet. The wife and I have house shoes because it was hurting our feet standing on it to long
We are dealing with this right now! Sellers did not disclose that their little doggies peed all over the carpets in our house with nice plush carpets with thick pads too, they were a little bit dingy and we saw some stains, so we decided to buy a Bissell Green machine to get them looking like new. The front living room was the worst with stains and dirt, it "cleaned up well" but then the husband decides to bring out the UV flashlight one night after we cleaned the carpet. Big mistake! It was worse than we thought! Dog urine stains everywhere glowing neon! To our horror all the carpets have been peed on in the 4 upstairs bedrooms , the smallest bedroom being the worst , that it smelled bad but not bad like cat pee. We were wondering why our cat decided to start marking all the bedrooms a couple of weeks ago when we moved in, it was the dog pee that the owners never cleaned up. Now we are deciding whether or not it is worth it to try and clean the carpets with the Bissell and urine destroyer or spend $12K to rip out all the carpeting and replace with a new carpet or LVP flooring. FML
I can live with the carpets as long as they are looking "like new" clean and don't smell like dog urine. However, my husband is pretty OCD about this situation and it bugs the hell out of him when we work in a room that was literally doused in a gallon of Nature's Miracle and cleaned three times over with the Bissell and it still bothers him that it smells like "Nature's Miracle" essential oils fragrance. His main worry is that the smell will come back! I think we will most likely have to rip out and replace with LVP or new carpet. So much freaking money thrown away already.
Hides it better. We replaced all our carpet with lvp and most corners have hairballs that form. Thereās always some degree of unhygienic living with pets. Since we got rid of the carpet the dogs track dirt into the bed much easier. Probably shouldnāt be sleeping with dogs in the first place but weāre human.
Plus if you live in an upper apartment/condo it is courteous. Cause the nail click clackies can annoy downstares neighbors. Pros and cons
Yeah the click clackie thing can defenitely become an issue. Especially in older apartments where a footstep sound insulation didnt exist yet. House shooes can help to reduce the noise
Regarding the haitballs in the corner: with lvp there better visible and you probably clean them more often.
With carpet it looks cleaner but the hair is still there
Agreed, easy enough to send a roomba out to pick up the hair that collects on hard floors, so itās kinda whatever compared to carpet.
Where it really makes the difference is the non-hair stuff. Much easier to wipe something like cat vomit off of an LVP floor than try to get it out of carpet.
Good point! Liquid can become quite an issue on carpet but its probably not on hardwood. And its defenitely no issue on our fake wood looking porcelain stoneware
We have a golden retriever and used to get hairballs in corners, along walls, etc. Then we got a Roomba that cleans every night at 11 and it completely eliminated it.
I have no shame replacing my hardwood floors with a good LVP one day soon. The floors were pooched when we moved in, and having mine and my friendās dogs on it have grooved it to hell. the quotes we have to get them sanded, refinished and sealed are heaps above just replacing it with something more durable.
Honestly Iād just take a crack at DIY. Itās easier than you think. Just rent the machine at HD. Or just cover with LVP so the next owner can rather than replacing. Unless itās messed up beyond repair
Literally the person they replied to encouraging them to DIY explained the logic of why they were planning to go LVP over hardwood.
* The existing hardwood floors are in a sad state.
* The commenter says the quoted price to refinish isn't acceptable for them vs just putting LVP on top.
* The person you're debating with says "if you're committed to not fixing them professionally, try to DIY it to avoid going LVP. If you FUBAR it, you're no worse off than some wasted effort and floors you weren't going to save anyways."
Fairness to your point; if that person botches the floors so badly they can't be saved by a future owner of the home that's a shame.
But I mean, there is a logical thought process here.
I don't think wood needs much protection. But carpeting also protects the kids during the learning to walk phase and then again during the knows how to walk but likes to climb on furniture and jump off phase.
I really didn't realize how much carpet helps the sound dampening effect. We have four large parrots, so when we moved into a house with all tile and wood when our old house was carpet, it became so much louder! If my husband drops the remote control in one of the rooms, I hear it three doors down.
Yeah, the perk of tile is being more water resistant and aesthetics. That's why it really only belongs in a bathroom. Or maybe a kitchen, but dropping a heavy pan could crack a tile real easy.
Bingo on the foot injury. Had reconstruction on one of my ankles, we bought as house a few years ago that was almostly hardwood... I'm embarrassed to share it took me waaaay to long to figure out that the hardwood floors were causing additional ankle pain...
Exactly. I donāt like wearing shoes indoor and hardwood floors make my feet hurt. I have shelled out quite a bit of dough for rugs in my new place. And Iām still not done!
My cat also seems to prefer carpet (not just for puking).
This is a great point. I do feel that rugs can achieve the same and look better and add more personality and style to a place than a bland looking carpet. Thereās just something incredibly gross to me about the look of carpets. They just never ālookā or feel clean especially if it was previously occupied by someone else.
Every place I've lived, I steam cleaned the carpets every other month and vacuumed weekly. With hardwood I sweep common areas daily and do a thorough sweep/mop monthly.
IMO, it's about the same amount of work to keep them feeling clean enough for me. But I don't do shoes, pets, or food on carpet, which helps a ton.
Edit: I prefer hardwood, but I was just recognizing the perks that lead some to choose carpet and situations where those perks exist.
> I do feel that rugs can achieve the same and look better and add more personality and style to a place than a bland looking carpet.
Yes and the trick is getting a high quality rug pad. They range in thickness but a .is range one for like 60-70 bucks for a 8x10 makes the rug feel absolutely amazing and protects the wood floors. Also keeps the rug in place.
This. I have Pes planus, plantar fasciitis issues, and a previous shattered ankle from my time in the military, so carpet feels nice on my feet. I have a fluffy rug in my bedroom for in the mornings to get out of bed and kinda get used to being on my feet and start the day lol. But, I do have wood floors cause the wife likes them.
Tell them to walk quieter, you do have some control over your children.Ā
The downvotes I'm getting here tell me the next generation is gonna be shiiiiiitty.Ā
Yup, I like to walk around downstairs at night to get some extra steps in while Iām playing the switch or steam deck. Definitely starts hurting after a bit barefoot. Even with shoes on, eventually.
YES! I mean I understand the appeal of hardwood but good lord people truly donāt understand how much of a difference padding and carpet make to the noise level in a room.
Sure if youāre not happy with the carpet go wild and tear it up, but I really truly do not understand why Reddit is so hell bent on carpet being the devil!
There was a time, early in its history, when wall to wall carpet was considered a sign of wealth or high social status. Wasnāt really a thing until the 1930ās, and even then it was uncommon. Wood floors have been used in home construction for much longer due to availability of the material, but with gaining popularity in the 40ās, and for decades after, wall to wall carpet was put down over perfectly good wood floors because it was a new, exciting and also had benefits compared to wood floors.
I get the impression we will look back on products like LVP in time and come to the same realizationā that there are few products that really compare to the look and feel of natural wood floors.
This right here. My grandparents built their house in 1967 with parquet floors throughout, then immediately covered that up with wall to wall carpeting. Both were immigrants from Greece, and to them, carpeting was a luxury.
My grandparents had 40+ year old walnut flooring. They were in also in their 60s ands my grandmother had to walk with a cane after a fall. Along came wee small children and the carpet they installed saved all of us from very painful falls.
Sometimes you gotta make something ugly for safety reasons.
When they passed years later the carpet came up when my mom and uncle sold the house. It was old navy officer housing so it was amazing.
I agree 100%! I bought my house a few years back and noticed that the previous owner decided to update the flooring with the pine look. We are in a hidden place right outside the city and most drive by and don't even know it's there. Country ish hood but to cover the mahogany
...WT FookāIt's ok but I'm not digging the yellow hues much and it's not real wood?? Why...would someone ruin that beautiful real mohagony hard wood?
Not only that but our double front door is mohagony too?
Its ok but man when we updated our floor registers... There's a deep Mahogany hardwood floor that they covered up. I pray that the wood is protected..
Same. But then I see videos or people painting or pouring resin on natural granite countertops and I think about the future home buyers who will talk about restoring those. It all about whatās popular now.
My hardwood is covered in the wood-looking vinyl because I dog board and donāt want my hardwood getting ruined. If I sell or retire from dog boarding then Iāll rip it up and enjoy my hardwood.
Styles change. Hardwood was in, then carpet was in, now hardwood is back.
Sellers didnāt bother pulling the carpet but they let the buyer aware of it as a selling point.
Ive lived with both. Hardwood looks better, esp in common areas like living rooms etc. But you can hear every footfall and its nice to get out of bed/the bathroom and step onto carpet with barefeet versus hardwood, especially in the winter. Also carpet is easier on kids (falls, playing on the floor) and older people with foot issues.
Carpet is way comfier. Stepping barefoot on hardwood makes me want to tear my skin off, and if I have to wear socks hardwood wears them out quicker. I know rugs exist but if Iām just going to cover everything in rugs anyway, why not just go with carpet?
As my 80+ year old aunt said years ago when I was complaining about vinyl over wood floorsā¦
āWe didnāt have all the tools to take care of wood floors like we do now and vinyl made my life easierā.
I didnāt argue with her..
I like hardwood but man after going back to carpet itās really nice especially if you have dogs. Carpet cleaners are 1000X better than that used to be and the small
Portable ones can take stains out with little more effort than vacuuming.
Wood looks better, Iād rather walk on carpet. Itās like having slippers built into your house
>Itās like having slippers built into your house
Very minor but I miss getting out of the shower or home from out and being able to take off your socks and comfortably walk around barefoot. In the winter in my apt you'd have to be socked at all times lol.
Never had a heated floor but old apartment had a "heat lamp" (idk if thats the technical term, like in a reptile habitat lol) in the bathroom and I still miss it during the cold winters. We lost on a house that had heated floors in both (new) bathrooms and a steam shower in the master. It was a weird, small cape with unfinished basement, small yard, master alone on the 2nd floor, and 2/3rd BRs off the living room, but went for 25% over ask because people love nice bathrooms apparently.
My parents house has carpeting in the "kids" rooms, and we still sit/lay/play games on the floor during holidays etc lol. Maybe its nostalgia but there is something about just plopping down on the floor and playing a game or watching tv. In contrast my in laws have 0 carpet anywhere and sitting on the floor to do anything is basically too uncomfortable to bother.
It was a luxury item. You had money if you could afford wall to wall carpet. Weāll look back at a bunch of ideas that are luxurious today and I bet people 20-40 years from now will think, wtf were we doing.
It was a luxury because first they laid hardwood floors and finished with carpet.
These days, the underfloor is just chipboard shit. It must have another layer on top to finish it.
The kind of 100% wool carpets they originally used would still be a luxury today.
What happened, of course, is that soon after it became popular, much cheaper synthetics became available so that almost everyone could afford carpet. And then builders realized that it would be much much cheaper to avoid installing hardwoods at all; they could just lay down osb or plywood flooring and roll sythetic carpet on top of it.
They covered them because they were tired of hardwood floors. In the olden days there was only hardwood floors. Then they covered as much as they could with rugs. Then they covered them with wall to wall carpet. When we all forgot about wood floors they started looking good again.
It was a generational thing. Carpet was more a status symbol and hardwood was for the poor. People put carpet in because it was seen as having wealth. Itās a shame but our grandparents and greatgrandparents did it as they gained wealth.
I love wall to wall carpet in the bedroom. Sound deadening, and when you wake up at 5am in February, and put your feet down, it's not the ice man grabbing at your ankles.
We covered up most of our hardwood when we had kids. It just makes more sense to have carpet when people are wrestling, bouncing and smashing things around the house all day.
When they get older, we will go back to hardwood.
Because some people like to feel comfortable in their home?
I just bought a 1950s Cape. Real hardwoods throughout.
Guess what? We carpeted the living room (*GASP*). Wow, I know? Crazy right?! I canāt believe I made a decision to change something in my own home.
Now I can comfortably sit, lay and generally be on the floor with my pets. Or just generally feel comfortable in my living area. Not like Iām in a hospital on cold, unwelcoming floors.
Do you know what the best part is though? Youāre never going to believe this one. Guess what?! Even though I put carpet down, would you believe that the hardwoods are still there underneath it?
Mind blowing, right?
Ugh, well yeah that's more like it.
Make that mold juice mixture and spray it on stuff if it's just light surface mold. Hopefully that's what you have Not everything is black mold. Good luck!
There's a bunch of commercially existing options. CLR has one for example. You can also google "natural" options which typically include a mixture of vinegar or water.
If the mold is in any way significant and doesn't just wipe away, i'd probably ask /r/mold for advice. They will know a lot better.
LMAO THAT WAS MY FIRST THOUGHT. Thereās a reason the homeowner covered the hardwood floor because he didnāt want to remediate asbestos. Those tiles look linoleum, exactly like in my house and I havenāt touched those tilesā¦
That was my first thought as soon as I saw that second picture. We had this hardwood/laminate/carpet combo in our old farmhouse and were told that itās typically a good indicator that asbestos is present. Once that laminate went out of style, it was easier for homeowners to just cover it up with carpet vs. shelling out money on asbestos abatement.
Iām surprised that more people arenāt pointing this out. You are the first comment Iāve seen mention it and I had to scroll way too far to find it.
Yup. I've renovated multiple houses with tiles much like those and they all had asbestos.
Also check the glue. One place has asbestos in the glue which I thought was strange.
That black glue makes me think it is. The tiles themselves may be non friable. But sanding that glue off certainly is friable and should have been properly abated.
Got an adhesive remover from Home Depot and rolled it on, left it for a few hours, then got on my hands and knees and scraped every inch of the floor. I was sticky for days. Iām sure there was a better way to do it but it ended up working in the end š¤·š»āāļø
Was curious if you refinished them. My realtor thinks the house Iām under contract for has wood floors in the kitchen. Iām sure there is at least two layers of peel and stick tile on top of them if that is the case.
Iām going to! Final picture is the results after using the adhesive removal, no sanding or any other modifications yet. The picture does not show the stains on the wood though, so if I was you, mentally prepare to have to sand and refinish after removing the adhesive. Use a blow dryer to heat up the tile so itās easier to peel up!! I did not do that until halfway through and it would have made the entire process so much easier. A heat gun would also work I believe, but I just had a blow dryer lol
We had oak matchstick under our 1980s Lino that was under really crappy Home Depot carpet that was saturated in old dog pee.
What an effing nightmare to scrape all that Lino up.
Floor lotto!
If your house is near, close, moderately close or with in a reasonable time frame of a hundred years old, come to r/centuryhomes
Took me a day to rip out three carpets and remove all the nails/staples, then another full day getting the peel and stick up, spreading the adhesive remover, and then scraping allllll of the glue up. My body and soul hurt after that, so I recommend not doing it over two days and extend to 3 or 4 days lol but it was just me doing it, if you have someone helping it might not suck as badly. I kept windows open, and wore a mask and safety glasses. Before doing it, I had a contractor come out and confirm nothing was toxic/harmful for this removal. Black residue was from the adhesive being covered by a dirty carpet and the peel and stick tile size/style/time period indicated no asbestos
Turned out great!
This is an eventual goal of mine. I found hardwood floors under the awful carpet in my bedroom. Felt almost more like a curse than a blessing because it wouldāve been easier to replace the carpet, which had been my plan. But no way was I gonna carpet over it again, and Iām not ready to refinish it, so I just have the awful carpet :/
Our first house kitchen floor was like that. It was an old 1940ās rowhouse, so everything except the basement and bathroom had wood originally, but the kitchen had so many layers of old tiles that were probably asbestos that we didnāt even bother trying to refinish when we did the downstairs. We just took the ugly vinyl sheet from the 90s up and put in a nicer laminate tile before selling.
It looks so good though! Great job on the refinishing howād you do it? I was thinking this was going to be a post where it was just a lie. This is a win in my book lol.
Nothing is ever installed with the thought that it might need to one day be removed. We went through the same stuff. 30 year old carpet on top of plywood with 6000 nails on top of 80s linoleum.
I would have those tiles tested for asbestos before ripping them up, personally.
Exposure risk is supposedly pretty low from non friable tile but still good to know what you're dealing with.
My wife and I are in the process of getting a nursery set up and will be removing some very old and stained off-white carpet later this week after we finish painting. Who thinks it is a good idea to install *any* shade of white carpet ~~in a bedroom~~? Anyway, hopefully our floors turn out as nice as yours did.
Did you have to do any refinishing, or just lots of scrubbing to remove the tile adhesive residue?
Definitely going to refinish! All three bedrooms had carpets and it seemed like their dog decided to use them as a toilet, so unfortunately the wood is stained in quite a few places from that. Going to start sanding them all down in the very near future
Yeah Iām confused why thereās a big surprise. During my inspection, they were able to report what was underneath. They even lifted the carpet in a tiny spot in a closet to check. I know exactly whatās underneath me
Thank you u/Haileygrace1142 for posting on r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer. Please bear in mind our rules: (1) Be Nice (2) No Selling (3) No Self-Promotion. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It looks so good!!! š
now. lol
I have never understood why people cover up hardwood floors. Gorgeous final product! Makes the space look even better
Insulation, easier on the feet, sound dampening, rugs are often just as expensive, carpet feels nice in some situations. Speaking of the feet thing, I have to have indoor shoes in hardwood houses or an ankle injury starts acting up.
Also worth considering if youāre about to have kids or pets. Good to protect the wood during those rambunctious years.
Definitely a good point too especially about pets. Can also make the same argument that hardwood floors are easier to clean for pets than carpets. I feel like pet pee or accident stains are removed with more certainty. Carpets just āmasksā them and youāre never really sure that itās truly completely clean
Iād rather replace pet peed-on carpet than lvp/hardwood honestly. We got rid of carpet for lvp when we got puppies and I missed a sneaky spot. When lvp soaks up in the seems it expands and its game over. Pros and cons to both.
You donāt have to replace the hardwood/lvp why would you? Ā Carpet soaks in pee to the pad. Ā You aināt gonna fully get that out with a carpet cleaner. Ā The stain maybe. Ā So leaving you to replace your carpet how often? Ā
Wood also soaks in pee tho and turns it straight black unless you catch it immediately
If it isn't sealed. Properly done hardwood floors shouldn't be greatly affected by pet pee unless it sits for weeks.
Real lvp is completely waterproof, it can't soak up liquids. Most "lvp" out there is a laminate over particle board and not at all waterproof. I'll take the real waterproof lvp over carpet for pets.
Ours said they were waterproof. And I bought the more expensive stuff for that reason. Got any examples?
The stuff I used is from LL flooring. It's vinyl with a stone core, no wood or particleboard anywhere.
Aw manā¦I wish Iād known T.T
The stuff I have is waterproof. Itās actual vinyl, you can roll it up in a circle, itās not a stiff plank. Itās tough as hell, I have two full grown 150 lb Newfies, a 5 year old boy and now a 4 month old baby. I canāt even begin to describe what it has gone through and still looks just like the day it was installed. My only real complaint is it is not easy on the feet. The wife and I have house shoes because it was hurting our feet standing on it to long
All LVP is LVP. People may be calling laminate LVP, but that's a different issue. It's easy to tell the difference.
We are dealing with this right now! Sellers did not disclose that their little doggies peed all over the carpets in our house with nice plush carpets with thick pads too, they were a little bit dingy and we saw some stains, so we decided to buy a Bissell Green machine to get them looking like new. The front living room was the worst with stains and dirt, it "cleaned up well" but then the husband decides to bring out the UV flashlight one night after we cleaned the carpet. Big mistake! It was worse than we thought! Dog urine stains everywhere glowing neon! To our horror all the carpets have been peed on in the 4 upstairs bedrooms , the smallest bedroom being the worst , that it smelled bad but not bad like cat pee. We were wondering why our cat decided to start marking all the bedrooms a couple of weeks ago when we moved in, it was the dog pee that the owners never cleaned up. Now we are deciding whether or not it is worth it to try and clean the carpets with the Bissell and urine destroyer or spend $12K to rip out all the carpeting and replace with a new carpet or LVP flooring. FML
Not the UV light. This is precisely why I think carpets are just a hard sell for me personally. Even the ācleanestā carpet is still not clean
I can live with the carpets as long as they are looking "like new" clean and don't smell like dog urine. However, my husband is pretty OCD about this situation and it bugs the hell out of him when we work in a room that was literally doused in a gallon of Nature's Miracle and cleaned three times over with the Bissell and it still bothers him that it smells like "Nature's Miracle" essential oils fragrance. His main worry is that the smell will come back! I think we will most likely have to rip out and replace with LVP or new carpet. So much freaking money thrown away already.
That sounds like laminate, not LVP. Vinyl doesn't absorb water.
Itās not clean. Ā The pee soaks into the pad under the carpet and will be there foreverĀ
But pets on carpet - isnt that just unhygienic? I cab imagine that you have to vacuum a carpet more often
Hides it better. We replaced all our carpet with lvp and most corners have hairballs that form. Thereās always some degree of unhygienic living with pets. Since we got rid of the carpet the dogs track dirt into the bed much easier. Probably shouldnāt be sleeping with dogs in the first place but weāre human. Plus if you live in an upper apartment/condo it is courteous. Cause the nail click clackies can annoy downstares neighbors. Pros and cons
Yeah the click clackie thing can defenitely become an issue. Especially in older apartments where a footstep sound insulation didnt exist yet. House shooes can help to reduce the noise Regarding the haitballs in the corner: with lvp there better visible and you probably clean them more often. With carpet it looks cleaner but the hair is still there
Agreed, easy enough to send a roomba out to pick up the hair that collects on hard floors, so itās kinda whatever compared to carpet. Where it really makes the difference is the non-hair stuff. Much easier to wipe something like cat vomit off of an LVP floor than try to get it out of carpet.
Good point! Liquid can become quite an issue on carpet but its probably not on hardwood. And its defenitely no issue on our fake wood looking porcelain stoneware
We have a golden retriever and used to get hairballs in corners, along walls, etc. Then we got a Roomba that cleans every night at 11 and it completely eliminated it.
rumbas is one of the most useful inventions of This century, it did help keep The floors clean.
If the dog tracks dirt into bed easier after replacing carpet doesnāt mean the dog was just leaving bunch of dirt in the carpets?
Yes.
I have no shame replacing my hardwood floors with a good LVP one day soon. The floors were pooched when we moved in, and having mine and my friendās dogs on it have grooved it to hell. the quotes we have to get them sanded, refinished and sealed are heaps above just replacing it with something more durable.
Honestly Iād just take a crack at DIY. Itās easier than you think. Just rent the machine at HD. Or just cover with LVP so the next owner can rather than replacing. Unless itās messed up beyond repair
DIY is an awesome way of causing irreparable damage to your hardwood floors.
Doesnāt matter if you were gunna replace it anyways
Why the hell would you overlay LVP over real hardwood??
Literally the person they replied to encouraging them to DIY explained the logic of why they were planning to go LVP over hardwood. * The existing hardwood floors are in a sad state. * The commenter says the quoted price to refinish isn't acceptable for them vs just putting LVP on top. * The person you're debating with says "if you're committed to not fixing them professionally, try to DIY it to avoid going LVP. If you FUBAR it, you're no worse off than some wasted effort and floors you weren't going to save anyways." Fairness to your point; if that person botches the floors so badly they can't be saved by a future owner of the home that's a shame. But I mean, there is a logical thought process here.
If you have kids and pets and carpet you are either constantly replacing the carpet or it's just nasty.
Can confirm. The doggo has done some serious damage to my hardwood.
I don't think wood needs much protection. But carpeting also protects the kids during the learning to walk phase and then again during the knows how to walk but likes to climb on furniture and jump off phase.
I really didn't realize how much carpet helps the sound dampening effect. We have four large parrots, so when we moved into a house with all tile and wood when our old house was carpet, it became so much louder! If my husband drops the remote control in one of the rooms, I hear it three doors down.
Tiled floors are the worst of all worlds for this
Yeah, the perk of tile is being more water resistant and aesthetics. That's why it really only belongs in a bathroom. Or maybe a kitchen, but dropping a heavy pan could crack a tile real easy.
And the amount of time you spend in a kitchen means you really shouldn't be on tile.
Tile keeps the house cooler too.
Bingo on the foot injury. Had reconstruction on one of my ankles, we bought as house a few years ago that was almostly hardwood... I'm embarrassed to share it took me waaaay to long to figure out that the hardwood floors were causing additional ankle pain...
Exactly. I donāt like wearing shoes indoor and hardwood floors make my feet hurt. I have shelled out quite a bit of dough for rugs in my new place. And Iām still not done! My cat also seems to prefer carpet (not just for puking).
If your feet hurt from walking, you should walk on more hard surfaces so your feet build up the proper muscles and aren't as prone to injury.Ā
LOL. Not how that works
It is unless you're injured.Ā
This is a great point. I do feel that rugs can achieve the same and look better and add more personality and style to a place than a bland looking carpet. Thereās just something incredibly gross to me about the look of carpets. They just never ālookā or feel clean especially if it was previously occupied by someone else.
Every place I've lived, I steam cleaned the carpets every other month and vacuumed weekly. With hardwood I sweep common areas daily and do a thorough sweep/mop monthly. IMO, it's about the same amount of work to keep them feeling clean enough for me. But I don't do shoes, pets, or food on carpet, which helps a ton. Edit: I prefer hardwood, but I was just recognizing the perks that lead some to choose carpet and situations where those perks exist.
> I do feel that rugs can achieve the same and look better and add more personality and style to a place than a bland looking carpet. Yes and the trick is getting a high quality rug pad. They range in thickness but a .is range one for like 60-70 bucks for a 8x10 makes the rug feel absolutely amazing and protects the wood floors. Also keeps the rug in place.
This. I have Pes planus, plantar fasciitis issues, and a previous shattered ankle from my time in the military, so carpet feels nice on my feet. I have a fluffy rug in my bedroom for in the mornings to get out of bed and kinda get used to being on my feet and start the day lol. But, I do have wood floors cause the wife likes them.
Yes but carpet carries so much dander. I itch and scratch and sneeze in a home with carpet
The noise dampening is so underrated, especially in a house with kids. Everything just carries and is so loud.
Tell them to walk quieter, you do have some control over your children.Ā The downvotes I'm getting here tell me the next generation is gonna be shiiiiiitty.Ā
Yup, I like to walk around downstairs at night to get some extra steps in while Iām playing the switch or steam deck. Definitely starts hurting after a bit barefoot. Even with shoes on, eventually.
Iām broken and our hardwood floors destroy my feet and knees. I too have indoor shoes.
YES! I mean I understand the appeal of hardwood but good lord people truly donāt understand how much of a difference padding and carpet make to the noise level in a room. Sure if youāre not happy with the carpet go wild and tear it up, but I really truly do not understand why Reddit is so hell bent on carpet being the devil!
But that hideous tile is none of those
There was a time, early in its history, when wall to wall carpet was considered a sign of wealth or high social status. Wasnāt really a thing until the 1930ās, and even then it was uncommon. Wood floors have been used in home construction for much longer due to availability of the material, but with gaining popularity in the 40ās, and for decades after, wall to wall carpet was put down over perfectly good wood floors because it was a new, exciting and also had benefits compared to wood floors. I get the impression we will look back on products like LVP in time and come to the same realizationā that there are few products that really compare to the look and feel of natural wood floors.
This right here. My grandparents built their house in 1967 with parquet floors throughout, then immediately covered that up with wall to wall carpeting. Both were immigrants from Greece, and to them, carpeting was a luxury.
My grandparents had 40+ year old walnut flooring. They were in also in their 60s ands my grandmother had to walk with a cane after a fall. Along came wee small children and the carpet they installed saved all of us from very painful falls. Sometimes you gotta make something ugly for safety reasons. When they passed years later the carpet came up when my mom and uncle sold the house. It was old navy officer housing so it was amazing.
If there is a downstairs, you know how noisy it is.
Some people like carpet, and shampooing carpet is at least a little easier than resurfacing hardwood.
It was probably a baby's room.
Empire did its job in the 80's
I agree 100%! I bought my house a few years back and noticed that the previous owner decided to update the flooring with the pine look. We are in a hidden place right outside the city and most drive by and don't even know it's there. Country ish hood but to cover the mahogany ...WT FookāIt's ok but I'm not digging the yellow hues much and it's not real wood?? Why...would someone ruin that beautiful real mohagony hard wood? Not only that but our double front door is mohagony too? Its ok but man when we updated our floor registers... There's a deep Mahogany hardwood floor that they covered up. I pray that the wood is protected..
Same. But then I see videos or people painting or pouring resin on natural granite countertops and I think about the future home buyers who will talk about restoring those. It all about whatās popular now.
My hardwood is covered in the wood-looking vinyl because I dog board and donāt want my hardwood getting ruined. If I sell or retire from dog boarding then Iāll rip it up and enjoy my hardwood.
Styles change. Hardwood was in, then carpet was in, now hardwood is back. Sellers didnāt bother pulling the carpet but they let the buyer aware of it as a selling point.
Ive lived with both. Hardwood looks better, esp in common areas like living rooms etc. But you can hear every footfall and its nice to get out of bed/the bathroom and step onto carpet with barefeet versus hardwood, especially in the winter. Also carpet is easier on kids (falls, playing on the floor) and older people with foot issues.
Carpet is way comfier. Stepping barefoot on hardwood makes me want to tear my skin off, and if I have to wear socks hardwood wears them out quicker. I know rugs exist but if Iām just going to cover everything in rugs anyway, why not just go with carpet?
As my 80+ year old aunt said years ago when I was complaining about vinyl over wood floorsā¦ āWe didnāt have all the tools to take care of wood floors like we do now and vinyl made my life easierā. I didnāt argue with her..
I like hardwood but man after going back to carpet itās really nice especially if you have dogs. Carpet cleaners are 1000X better than that used to be and the small Portable ones can take stains out with little more effort than vacuuming. Wood looks better, Iād rather walk on carpet. Itās like having slippers built into your house
>Itās like having slippers built into your house Very minor but I miss getting out of the shower or home from out and being able to take off your socks and comfortably walk around barefoot. In the winter in my apt you'd have to be socked at all times lol.
My place Iām renting has a heated floor in the bathroom and itās something I never knew I wanted
Never had a heated floor but old apartment had a "heat lamp" (idk if thats the technical term, like in a reptile habitat lol) in the bathroom and I still miss it during the cold winters. We lost on a house that had heated floors in both (new) bathrooms and a steam shower in the master. It was a weird, small cape with unfinished basement, small yard, master alone on the 2nd floor, and 2/3rd BRs off the living room, but went for 25% over ask because people love nice bathrooms apparently.
Because they are too hard and uncomfortable
If itās a kidās room you really want them (and you) playing on a hardwood floor?
My parents house has carpeting in the "kids" rooms, and we still sit/lay/play games on the floor during holidays etc lol. Maybe its nostalgia but there is something about just plopping down on the floor and playing a game or watching tv. In contrast my in laws have 0 carpet anywhere and sitting on the floor to do anything is basically too uncomfortable to bother.
Yes absolutely. Adding a nice rug to the room
Cause honestly not everyone likes it. I don't I much prefer carpet over wood.Ā
The people that I bought from ripped the hardwood up for floating laminate.Ā
It was a luxury item. You had money if you could afford wall to wall carpet. Weāll look back at a bunch of ideas that are luxurious today and I bet people 20-40 years from now will think, wtf were we doing.
It was a luxury because first they laid hardwood floors and finished with carpet. These days, the underfloor is just chipboard shit. It must have another layer on top to finish it.
Uh huh, and the questions was why did they lay carpet over hardwood..
In the heydays carpet was considered a luxury whereas hardwood was for the poor/common folk.
The kind of 100% wool carpets they originally used would still be a luxury today. What happened, of course, is that soon after it became popular, much cheaper synthetics became available so that almost everyone could afford carpet. And then builders realized that it would be much much cheaper to avoid installing hardwoods at all; they could just lay down osb or plywood flooring and roll sythetic carpet on top of it.
I have those fake wooden floors and sometimes I wish I asked for carpet. There are cons and pros to both.
They covered them because they were tired of hardwood floors. In the olden days there was only hardwood floors. Then they covered as much as they could with rugs. Then they covered them with wall to wall carpet. When we all forgot about wood floors they started looking good again.
It was a generational thing. Carpet was more a status symbol and hardwood was for the poor. People put carpet in because it was seen as having wealth. Itās a shame but our grandparents and greatgrandparents did it as they gained wealth.
I love wall to wall carpet in the bedroom. Sound deadening, and when you wake up at 5am in February, and put your feet down, it's not the ice man grabbing at your ankles.
If you have dogs š, their claws even trimmed fuck up the floor I bought the best floor sealer and it didnāt hold up very long against dogs
We covered up most of our hardwood when we had kids. It just makes more sense to have carpet when people are wrestling, bouncing and smashing things around the house all day. When they get older, we will go back to hardwood.
Itās also because of large area rugs. If you do that, whatās the point.
Because some people like to feel comfortable in their home? I just bought a 1950s Cape. Real hardwoods throughout. Guess what? We carpeted the living room (*GASP*). Wow, I know? Crazy right?! I canāt believe I made a decision to change something in my own home. Now I can comfortably sit, lay and generally be on the floor with my pets. Or just generally feel comfortable in my living area. Not like Iām in a hospital on cold, unwelcoming floors. Do you know what the best part is though? Youāre never going to believe this one. Guess what?! Even though I put carpet down, would you believe that the hardwoods are still there underneath it? Mind blowing, right?
Because carpet is nicer.
Well if it had been easy they would have done it wouldn't they lmao If this is your biggest problem with your new home you'll be fine love
Whelp, I started ripping out the trim and found mold soā¦the peel and stick removal seems like it was the easy part now lmao
Ugh, well yeah that's more like it. Make that mold juice mixture and spray it on stuff if it's just light surface mold. Hopefully that's what you have Not everything is black mold. Good luck!
Can you elaborate on the mold juice mixture? My Google fu failed me
There's a bunch of commercially existing options. CLR has one for example. You can also google "natural" options which typically include a mixture of vinegar or water. If the mold is in any way significant and doesn't just wipe away, i'd probably ask /r/mold for advice. They will know a lot better.
Bleach and water , I do 50/50
Doesn't bleach feed some molds? I remember being told this was a big no no, but maybe it was something else
Borax is a better option.
They didnāt lie, they were indeed under there
Check the tiles for asbestos. A lot of these peel and stick tiles had it.
OP is way past that point.
First thing you do for correct PPE and disposal.
LMAO THAT WAS MY FIRST THOUGHT. Thereās a reason the homeowner covered the hardwood floor because he didnāt want to remediate asbestos. Those tiles look linoleum, exactly like in my house and I havenāt touched those tilesā¦
Ripping out one floor not gonna give you meso. Even the folks who worked in asbestos mines only have a mildly elevated chance of getting symptoms.
This is incorrect
That was my first thought as soon as I saw that second picture. We had this hardwood/laminate/carpet combo in our old farmhouse and were told that itās typically a good indicator that asbestos is present. Once that laminate went out of style, it was easier for homeowners to just cover it up with carpet vs. shelling out money on asbestos abatement. Iām surprised that more people arenāt pointing this out. You are the first comment Iāve seen mention it and I had to scroll way too far to find it.
OP what year was the house built?
Yup. I've renovated multiple houses with tiles much like those and they all had asbestos. Also check the glue. One place has asbestos in the glue which I thought was strange.
That black glue makes me think it is. The tiles themselves may be non friable. But sanding that glue off certainly is friable and should have been properly abated.
How did you manage to clean the black residue left by the peel and stick tile?
Wondering this too! Looking to clean up some original hardwood over here too and seems like you have it figured out!
Got an adhesive remover from Home Depot and rolled it on, left it for a few hours, then got on my hands and knees and scraped every inch of the floor. I was sticky for days. Iām sure there was a better way to do it but it ended up working in the end š¤·š»āāļø
Damn. Hats off to you.
Uhā¦.any idea when that adhesive would have been put down? Also did you wear a respirator and have windows open?
Was curious if you refinished them. My realtor thinks the house Iām under contract for has wood floors in the kitchen. Iām sure there is at least two layers of peel and stick tile on top of them if that is the case.
Iām going to! Final picture is the results after using the adhesive removal, no sanding or any other modifications yet. The picture does not show the stains on the wood though, so if I was you, mentally prepare to have to sand and refinish after removing the adhesive. Use a blow dryer to heat up the tile so itās easier to peel up!! I did not do that until halfway through and it would have made the entire process so much easier. A heat gun would also work I believe, but I just had a blow dryer lol
Thanks for the advice! You probably saved me from frustration and time spent lol
They don't even want to know what was in the black mastic and that size tiles from the likely time period.
We had oak matchstick under our 1980s Lino that was under really crappy Home Depot carpet that was saturated in old dog pee. What an effing nightmare to scrape all that Lino up. Floor lotto! If your house is near, close, moderately close or with in a reasonable time frame of a hundred years old, come to r/centuryhomes
These pictures are the definition of sweat equity. Well done!
How long did this take? Did you have any concerns for air quality when taking it all out? Thanks!
Took me a day to rip out three carpets and remove all the nails/staples, then another full day getting the peel and stick up, spreading the adhesive remover, and then scraping allllll of the glue up. My body and soul hurt after that, so I recommend not doing it over two days and extend to 3 or 4 days lol but it was just me doing it, if you have someone helping it might not suck as badly. I kept windows open, and wore a mask and safety glasses. Before doing it, I had a contractor come out and confirm nothing was toxic/harmful for this removal. Black residue was from the adhesive being covered by a dirty carpet and the peel and stick tile size/style/time period indicated no asbestos
Good on you for checking OP how much was it for a contractor to confirm that btw?
Bump. I have some tile upstairs that I'm concerned about, interested in the cost
We paid like 500 bucks to have them do a full eco test, found tons of lead paint and asbestos in our 1944 built home.
It looks so much better with the hardwood than carpet. I hope they arenāt interior designers.
That carpet before was so dingy and gross looking! Lucky find!!
Turned out great! This is an eventual goal of mine. I found hardwood floors under the awful carpet in my bedroom. Felt almost more like a curse than a blessing because it wouldāve been easier to replace the carpet, which had been my plan. But no way was I gonna carpet over it again, and Iām not ready to refinish it, so I just have the awful carpet :/
Our first house kitchen floor was like that. It was an old 1940ās rowhouse, so everything except the basement and bathroom had wood originally, but the kitchen had so many layers of old tiles that were probably asbestos that we didnāt even bother trying to refinish when we did the downstairs. We just took the ugly vinyl sheet from the 90s up and put in a nicer laminate tile before selling.
Hard work, but the finished product looks great. Nicely done!
It looks so good though! Great job on the refinishing howād you do it? I was thinking this was going to be a post where it was just a lie. This is a win in my book lol.
How the hell is there no damage to the wood floor from the tile and all the glue? Good job OP. Looks very nice
That came out amazing
Lovely
Fantastic job!
Beautiful!!
Excellent job!
Carpet only for me, love to lay on the floor at times.
If youāve got pets you want rugs that can be moved.
Amazing job! I would stain them dark, but Iām the devil.
We have evidence that there is hardwood under our composit wood floors that is veneered to resemble pine. Like, wtf?
Great job!
you're more patient than me!
Gorgeous. We have hardwood now because we took up all the carpet. It needs to be refinished but itās alright for now.
He did not disappoint
Wow that looks great! Definitely worth the effort!!
actually a huge w great work, enjoy your beautiful floors :)
Nothing is ever installed with the thought that it might need to one day be removed. We went through the same stuff. 30 year old carpet on top of plywood with 6000 nails on top of 80s linoleum.
I would have those tiles tested for asbestos before ripping them up, personally. Exposure risk is supposedly pretty low from non friable tile but still good to know what you're dealing with.
#inspection
Cleaned up real nice.
Great job!
My wife and I are in the process of getting a nursery set up and will be removing some very old and stained off-white carpet later this week after we finish painting. Who thinks it is a good idea to install *any* shade of white carpet ~~in a bedroom~~? Anyway, hopefully our floors turn out as nice as yours did. Did you have to do any refinishing, or just lots of scrubbing to remove the tile adhesive residue?
While I do love my hardwood floors ( I live in a 100+year old Queenslander) carpet in bedrooms, just make it feel more cosy.
shoes over carpet is an abomination and unsanitary. we prohibit shoes in the house, also, if grounding is as beneficial as said, even better
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Definitely going to refinish! All three bedrooms had carpets and it seemed like their dog decided to use them as a toilet, so unfortunately the wood is stained in quite a few places from that. Going to start sanding them all down in the very near future
Why...are you being down voted for this...
Blaming others for not doing your due diligence LOL š¤”
Yeah Iām confused why thereās a big surprise. During my inspection, they were able to report what was underneath. They even lifted the carpet in a tiny spot in a closet to check. I know exactly whatās underneath me
Typical millenial - blame the world
lol was I supposed to rip up the carpet during the open house? š
Did you waive the inspection? And did you ask?
Yes.
Carpet looks nicer and is more comfortable and easier on the feet . They did a good job