ypsi~dixit

Our house is now carpet-free. If I had hardwood under it,I would have done it much sooner. As it was,I went room by room,tore up the carpet,and put down either Pergo,or real wood.

It's just a harbinger of filth. Dust mites, food bits--Heaven knows I slave away to keep it clean, but it's just a ridiculous waste of my time.

I'm glad to know others have gone carpet-free. I've got my box-cutter ready for the first swath, tomorrow.

I just don't know about how to sand/seal it, or whether to seal it at all or just leave it as natural breathing wood.

Let me speak to the wonder of bamboo flooring. Not only is it easier to clean than carpet (and doesn't hold pet stains), it is very environmentally friendly. While a hardwood forest can take 30 years to mature, bamboo matures in 3-6 years.

But I'm not sure I'd reommend installing it yourself.

I have a bad habit of thinking that jobs like this will be much faster and easier than they really are. But then again, that makes me all the more happy once their done.

(ignorant) Doug, what is Pergo?

Chuck, I have a habit of biting off a wee bit more than I can chew.

I can picture kind visitors viewing my ravaged, half-slashed off carpet in midsummer and asking, "you live here?"

But on the other hand I am persistent. This carpet's days are numbered. It's just a filth-sponge. Bah. I want clean, fresh, wood floors.

The cabin at Cobblestone has white-painted wood puncheon floors and it is just delightful. Anything that removes me a step from the 21st century is all right by me.

Chuck: I hasten to add that my humble 1948 home was built before folks had much concern for things like hardwood floors. Given my druthers, I'd live in a treehouse constructed of salvaged materials. But as it stands, this little bungalow came with hardwood floors...so...I make the best of it and enjoy them.

At any rate, I will keep (ultra-sustainable) bamboo flooring in mind, and I appreciate your mentioning it. Thanks.

I have original hard wood floors in my house. They are eighty years old! What I dont have in my house generally are fleas. No carpets = no fleas. Plus they are much easier to clean. And when my very elderly dog got very sick and had daily accidents on my floor for the week before she died, they were very easy to clean up which meant that I got to spend more time scratching behind her ears.

Great move. When I got my place, I had much of the carpet on the ground floor torn up and put oak flooring down. When I did my big renovation, I removed all the carpet in the remainder of the house (except for one room), put maple down in the kitchen and laminate flooring upstairs. It has made such a huge difference in my entire house.

i DESPISE carpet. we have one dog and 3 cats. we have one room out of many that has carpet, the rest wood. and EVERY animal seeks the refuge of my bedroom carpet when they're feeling the least bit queasy. WHY can't they vomit on the kitchen linoleum? or the dining room wood floor? we used to have carpet in the living room until our last dog threw up on it one time too many. my husband came home from work surprised to see rolls and rolls of old carpet and foam stacked in the driveway. i was a woman possessed. i took a huge butcher knife and carved the carpet off the floor. i HATE carpet.
hope to sign the petition this morning as Farmer's Market. :)

Lynne: Yes, I never blame my dog for her very occasional accidents. It's always my fault: I didn't register her asking to go out because I was too busy with something, usually. I am in the midst of ripping out these foul carpets. Half is already gone in the living room, and the beautiful wood floor is coming to light.

I just plain feel better walking on the nice wood. So pretty, too.

Trusty G: I am in the midst of a carpet-destruction orgy and I already feel better. There was just so much ick in the carpet, despite my strenuous attempts at cleaning it. My trusty box cutter is removing swatch by swatch, and the cheapo pink padding stuff beneath rips out easily. Rolling up the swatches and putting them in the garage to feed out into the trash.

Stupid carpet.

Amanda: I hear you. I pried up one carpet section today that had been a favorite pee site for my erstwhile cat, despite my plaintive pleas to use the litter box, and....whew.

I was glad to get that foul thing out of my house and see the good clean wood underneath. Icky carpet!

Thank you for signing the petition at the market! :)

I pulled up the carpet in my house a few years and now enjoy the beautiful hardwood floor the house came with. The house was built in 1939. I immediately noticed that my allergies weren't nearly as bad because the carpet wasn't there to attract all the dust, etc.

Tom: I'm just sweeping and mopping my new bare wood floor. I can't help but think it harbored a host of filth, now gone. I'm glad to be rid of it.

When we bought our house, it had gray carpet on every square inch of floor surface, including the kitchen, laundry room (a no-no) and bathrooms. I've been seventeen years getting rid of it, and I'm still not through. The 140+ year old hardwood floors beneight had paint splatter and staples scattered about. Some one needed to be shot for this, maybe the same person who painted and gummed up the wall sockets and switch plates, or covered the brick walls with a false stud walls and then pained them Pepto-bismo pink! (Yuk!), or caulked all of the windows shut. They certainly took remuddling to the acme. Carpets are dirt traps, you can have 'em! JCD

Seventeen years...phew.

"Remuddling"--ha! Gracious, what a mess for you to clean up.

There were staples in my floor, too, and some paint splatters also (was it impossible to put down a drop cloth?-apparently so). So my next step is to work on getting the paint off and then try to find a non-toxic, non-polyurethane protectant.

You are right--the carpet was plain and simple a dirt trap. The simple difference in the smell of my house is astounding--a friend remarked on that, too.

At closing, our sellers were regaling us with tales of when _they_ bought the house. It has 100yo hardwood floors throughout (except kitchen/bathroom), which pleases us and my allergies. When they bought it, it apparently had carpeting that had gotten old, nasty, and doggy - with another layer of carpeting put on top to cover it up!

So we're thankful to our sellers for tearing that up, even if we're less than impressed with some of their other mods.

Out with the evil carpet! Out!

Blech! TWO layers of icky carpet? Ugh!

So far Doug has the oldest hardwood floors, at 140+ years. Murph: 100; Lynne, 80; Tom, 65; me, a measly 58 years. :) :) :)

It's actually charming to see how much people love their nice wood floors.

Hi, I am seriously thinking about tearing up my carpeting to reveal the hardwood floors that are underneath. My dog, too, has had accidents on the carpets, and it is yucky, to say the least. I can't even let the baby crawl in the dining room because of the numerous stains on the carpet. What do I do when I tear it up, though? I know there are tack strips, but I don't know how to make the floors look beautiful, again. Any suggestions?