Little (not so) secret: I hate carpet. It stains, it gets matted down, it gets smelly with kids and pets. Hate carpet.
We have carpet through the living room, bedrooms, hall, and hall bathroom.
I was dreading checking to see what was under the carpet in the living room--I thought we'd have to take the trim off the walls in one of the corners and pull up the carpet and pad to look under it.
Then I thought of something: the kids have yanked the vent register out of the floor a couple of times, and the carpet seemed loose under it. So, I had a sudden brainstorm, pulled the vent register up, and looked under the edge of the carpet.
Yup. Hardwood. It's going to need refinished, but that's cheaper and easier to do than putting it in from absolute scratch.
So, yay! We have hardwood floors waiting to be revealed when the kids are slightly less clumsy!
17 minutes ago
Hope you don't get a terrible surprise when you pull all that carpet up.
ReplyDeleteMany people go to wall-to-wall carpet to cover damage or stains that can't be fixed.
In the kids' bedrooms, that is pretty much the case. The living room feels pretty solid. And I really don't mind stains on hardwood nearly so much--they can be covered with area rugs.
DeleteCongratulations. I also hate carpet. In part because it can harbor allergens in the way a hard surface floor will not. I also find it's harder/more work to keep clean. I have hardwood or tile floors all through my house...run an electrostatic sweeper over them every couple days and that's all it takes to keep them clean (with kids, your mileage may vary....)
ReplyDeleteThankfully, the kids don't seem to be allergic to anything. All I'm allergic to is mold and mildew. Odysseus, on the other hand...
DeleteHow fortunate! My wife decreed years ago that our wall to wall carpet had to go. It was backbreaking putting in the flooring, but we're all much happier, and healthier, now.
ReplyDeleteOne caveat: We live in a bi-level with small bedrooms and big open common areas upstairs and down. You don't realize how much carpeting muffles the noise until you remove it. It can be like living in a drum sometimes.
Our home is a very small one, probably built in the housing boom following WWII. I'm not really worried about echoes.
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