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My husband & I are in the process of buying a house that currently has very old, unattractive carpet. Underneath, however, are some very nice wood floors. I was wondering if anyone knows how to go about finding someone to take care of this; we don't really want the hassle of dealing with it ourselves - tearing up the carpet & pad, disposing of it, removing the tack strips (I think that's what they're called?). And even though the small portion we saw seemed to be in good condition, I would think it would also need to be buffed and possibly sealed. Also since there are stairs I am thinking something special might need to be done there. I would imagine mainstream companies that install carpet and wood floors wouldn't necessarily take on a job like this, and I am not sure where to even begin or what this service would be referred to as in the yellow pages. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!
There are companies that specialize in new wood flooring installations, and then there are companies that specialize in refinishing existing floors. Look in the yellow pages under "floors- refinishing", and you should find plenty of listings. Some of them will be willing to do the carpet removal for you, and some likely will not. You may find that the difference in cost makes it worthwhile for you to do the grunt labor yourself, since you're going to pay a premium for having that gruntwork done. It all depends on what you have more of- spare time or money- and which you're willing to part with easier....
Look at your local paper. The weekly neighborhood variety is best. Look for General Contractors or somebody like a carpenter who sezs we do work of all types.
I used to get a bit of this type work. Would use a couple of helpers to do the grunt part. Typically charged $20 / manhour labor, lil bit for disposal. Typical room ran about $100. They have to know how to do it and not attempt to cut carpet on the floor with a knife. Can do a lot of damage.
Usually you do not get away without a bit of filling of nail holes, cracks, etc. Maybe then a very lite sanding and refinishing. Those carpet types don't much care what they do to the floors. It is all being covered up.
The local refinishng guys might also have a removal service but it also may be more typical that they have a sub that does it for them. It is really about knowing how to roll it up while cutting it quickly into the right size chunks. Your standard grunt job that everybody thinks the next guy should do for next to nothing.
In some places the disposal fees might be more than the removal.
I'm a home improvement guy, this is a easy job a DIY can do.
Pull the carpet up at one end roll it back, cut it with a box knife using the carpet under it as a guard for the floor. Cut it into manageable sizes. Pull the padding up, should have about 1000 staples in it. Use a 5 in 1 tool to pop them up and pull out with pliers, pop the tack strip up with a molding tool. Depending on the size of the room should take more than a half a day.
Clean floor with a mild detergent (Murphy's Oil Soap leaves a residue) and polish with paste wax and a auto buffer it you haven't got an upright, another half day.
Pulling up carpet is not hard at all. Pulling out the tack strips isn't difficult just putsy. We did the same thing in our old house, pulled up all the PINK carpet and refinished the wood under them (and added some to other rooms that didn't have any). They turned out beautifully!
As for getting them refinished, check with your local decorating center, they will have a list of contractors in the area that do hardwood refinishing. They will probably also have a list of handymen that would pull up the carpet/tack strips if you really want to pay for someone to do that for you.
I did it myself in the entire house. Didn't take more than a half day for each room. The padding was so old that it was literally glued to the floor; I had to use a putty knife to scrape it away. Just cut the carpet in strips no more than 3 feet wide so it's easy to drag out of the house, and have a trash can handy when you pull up the padding, in case it crumbles.
Afterward, I vacuumed well, mopped with a wood floor cleaner, sanded over a few rough spots, and applied Scott's Liquid Gold, wiped up the excess, and let the floor sit for a day while the Liquid Gold sank in better (that stuff is slippery!! ). Voila, beautiful floors.
We just pulled our old carpet up this month. We did what has been suggested... but we had to remove our base boards/mouldings first. Not a hard job, just a little boring.
Our hard wood floors required a good sanding, some fills for huge staple holes and then a nice varnish. There were a lot of water spots from the previous owners shampooing the carpets. Then we used a nice sealer and now have lovely, glowing hardwood floors. The main traffice areas do have area rugs though to keep the dogs from scratching them.
You might want to post this on the Minnesota board too. We used Daves in Elk River. They did a wonderful job. If the floors were covered with carpet, there is usually a reason. I would pretty much count on have to refinish and reseal. This takes several days because the product has to dry between coats.
After this is done, you have to keep protectors on the legs of all your furniture. As far as maintenence goes, my floors get very light use. I mop them a couple times a year with murphys oil soap and rewax once a year, usually with a holloway product. I vacuum them regularly with just the suction, not the brush.
Just wanted to say thanks! Still not sure what we will do, but it seems like it wouldn't be too bad and we're both reasonably handy so we may do it ourselves. I do have a couple more questions for anyone who may have input:
- Would you suggest painting before or after pulling up the carpet? I thought before, since we could spill on the carpet & it wouldn't matter, but then someone told me after would be better because of all the dust & crud that will come up when we pull up the carpet.
- Someone also mentioned that homes built in the 50s are likely to have hardwood in the bedrooms but not necessarily in the living room. The only place the inspector pulled up the carpet was a corner in one of the bedrooms. Has anyone had this experience? Since we won't be moving in for awhile we won't know, and I don't think the current homeowner would know how to check, admittedly it's a simple thing but I get think it's an estate and the people don't even live there to check really quickly. Since we'll be buying either way I guess it's not a huge thing, I am just wondering about the likelihood so I can plan ahead, perhaps we would do carpet in the living room if that turns out to be the case...
Thanks again!
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Just look in your local paper.......
). Voila, beautiful floors.
