THSCC Forums

Just finished ripping about 550 sq ft of carpet out of our house, what a nightmare.

the process isn't that hard, but the allergies are hell and then some. I haven't felt this bad in quite some time. Once the dust dies down I bet the air quality goes up significantly. It makes me want to tear it out of the bedrooms too!

Scott

Why did you tear out the carpet Scott? Get new or putting hardwoods down?

_________________
Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

We will be putting in an engineered wood floor this weekend (we're on a slab foundation, so we can't nail down traditional wood).

The carpet was 5 years old and was brand new when we bought the house. It appears that it was a K-mart special carpet. I would have preferred a flooring allowance rather than a crappy floor.

Scott

We are in the same carpet boat here. Our's is 5 years old next week and it looks worse than the 15 year old carpet in my parents house. When we put the contract on our new house we are planning on spec-ing upgraded carpet.

_________________
Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

I spent the summer before I went to college in the carpet business. While you're right that its important to upgrade the carpet don't neglect the pad as it plays an important role in keeping the carpet from wearing. Pick a carpet in the 40+ oz. face weight range in nylon or wool for long life. Just remember that you probably don't want the ultra long life carpet as eventually you'll probably tire of it and want something new.

The prefinished hardwoods are great in an existing home as they are DIY and you don't have the mess of sanding a traditional hardwood floor. Its easy to make "custom" patterns too with different woods/finishes. The downside is that you need an even subfloor to start with or you'll have "overwood" (high spots). Most also have some degree of edge/end bevel to minimize the uneveness.
Scott is right about an engineered floor in a slab on grade. You need to mitigate the moisture that wicks through the concrete with the dimensional stability of the engineered products. Some folks will still use poly sheeting and wood sleepers to avoid concrete/floor contact.

Frank