we tore up the carpet....

Moderator Age : 28 Joined : 12 Oct 2006 Posts : 2055

Last night DH and I tore up the carpet in the dining room. The floor under it is hard wood...it's in rough shape though and there are parts that have been patched...DH is working on fixing it and we will paint it...this is much cheaper than what we were planning on doing. We like the rustic country look and this will fit right in Smile

Very Valuable Member Joined : 12 Oct 2006 Posts : 460

oh,Kim,I hear ya~ Rolling Eyes

ALL the floors in my house were horrendous!!
Just to move in,we needed to do something with them just to put our furniture in,especially the downstairs(living room,& dining room)where people "see". So Hubby put down wood parquet tiles all within 2 weeks & it was a BIG area.He worked so hard to get it done by moving day that he had lost weight because all he did was do the floors every evening with no time to eat! Crying or Very sad

We just let upstairs "go" for a couple of years...but it was awful. The planks are wide & the wood is soft,so it splintered horribly. & of course,parts were painted over like yours.
When my youngest got out of her crib,& it was time to buy beds for her & her sister,we got them VERY NICE bunkbeds & knew we needed to do something with their floor before the beds were delivered,so we just wall-to-wall carpeted...the girls room AND one of my sons' room. I hate carpet,but it was a quick fix. Someday we will rip 'em up(they look terrible now,even after only 6-7 yrs.)and do something with the wood floor,like we did in MY bedroom last summer. MY room was the last to be dealt with,but when WE got our new bed,there presented another opportunity to fix the floor. Sooooo.....we got hardwood planks put down OVER our existing floor, it was expensive,but is now WONDERFUL! I would definitely do it again,like to the girls' room & any other room....I just can't believe how bad all our floors were! I mean,we even looked into getting them sanded & refinished before we moved in,& the company came to see them & said "they wouldn't touch them,'cause they would break their machines."...yikes~ affraid

My kitchen floor is a VERY old gray linoleum which we would also LOVE to get rid of someday! Laughing

Maybe a nice ceramic tile....Hhhhhmmmmm Wink

.
The wood stairs need an overhaul,too(to the upstairs bedrooms)....argh...there's just so much that needs to be done~ Mad

Sometimes I don't even want to think about it.
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Subject: Re: we tore up the carpet.... Fri 16 Mar 2007, 9:58 am

My DH and my husband did my wood floor they are beautiful and the stairs we had done upstairs is wood I have my kitchen need something I want tile my husbad want parquet ,,, that this summer project when we move to the lake house I having it down... and I want a new stove with 6 burner and a double wall oven ,
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Gayla

"They take great pride in making their dinner cost much; I take my pride in making my dinner cost so little."

---Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Moderator Age : 28 Joined : 12 Oct 2006 Posts : 2055

WOW cheapy....sounds like doing home improvements is your "thing"! I'm gald to hear that you have the floor issues all figured out and now you have left to do is do them Smile

That's the hard part, I know. Our house was wall to wall carpet ...but it was white! We have lived here for 7 years and all the downstairs looks awful! We took one up and painted the cement under it dark gray and put a tan area rug there...it's our mud room....my FIL is giving us his tan carpet for the living room...hopefully soon...and then we want to rip our bar out, it's between the dining room and kitchen and then we will have to replace the linleum....so much to do!

Gayla...I like the sounds of your new stove!....well soon to be your new stove Smile

Subject: Re: we tore up the carpet.... Fri 16 Mar 2007, 12:39 pm

thanks Kim ..
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Gayla

"They take great pride in making their dinner cost much; I take my pride in making my dinner cost so little."

---Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Subject: Re: we tore up the carpet.... Fri 16 Mar 2007, 2:49 pm

Well..sine we are bringing up do it yourself projects,can anyone help me with my back yard patio...lol

It had the ugliest outdoor carpet on it and cracks all in the concrete,,I ripped up the carpet and not sure what to do with the patio,,I have ideas of a wood deck over it or pour concrete ontop of it,,no ideas yet,,anyone ever take on a job like this?

Subject: Re: we tore up the carpet.... Sat 17 Mar 2007, 1:37 am

Wow ladies!!!! Don't you just love d.i.y. (i.e. destroy it yourself...haha).

White carpet?...what in the world??? What a Face

You know we were pretty lucky in this house, upstairs was fully carpeted with orange shagpile and the previous owners let us come in a few days before completion to rip it all up (the house had been vacant for a few months before we even emigrated!) Underneath the floors were all hardwood and in beautiful condition but full of staples from the carpets. DH and I had hired out an electric sander and several sheets of sanding paper in different coarsnesses...but it took us both at least ONE FULL DAY just going from room to room pulling out all the staples....I was waddling like a bodybuilder for days afterwards. But it was great as the house was empty and DH just sanded every room and gave all the floors a few coats of varnish before our furniture was put in....that was over 7 years ago though and they need done again...but it's sooooo much better than carpet, hygienic and easier to clean Smile

Plus there's a little 'bald' spot in the kitchen since we pulled out the old cabinets and put in replacement ones that we bought 2nd-hand (which I eventually repainted...lol). We've been working within a budget here! Don't even get me started on how the bathroom renovation escalated!!!

Donna we used to have something like an old greenhouse effect area in our back garden....concrete border and soil in the middle and shade-cloth over the top....DH ended up smashing up all the old concrete and we put an upstairs timber deck across the back of the house and had new concrete put in underneath, running right across the back of the house, it's such an improvement. Yours sounds like it would be easier to deck over the top, that would probably be quickest, but maybe you should get a few 'free' quotes and ideas before you decide what to do.....
I know you can buy 'marine quality' synthetic carpet which can be used outdoors in wet weather....and also synthetic turf for outdoors....both of these can be purchased in hardware stores.....it really depends if you're going for a quick-fix or not. There's a lot of ways you could go!

Kim, I know you'll be so happy when you've fixed up your nice wooden floors....it all takes time....and money Rolling Eyes

I must see if I can find those pics again of our kitchen reno to post here! (Yep...found them).
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Moderator Age : 28 Joined : 12 Oct 2006 Posts : 2055

Skin...I know WHITE CARPET! It was in before we moved here....I have no clue why they put it in...but I hate it! LOL
Sounds like you had good luck with your floors! That's great!

Donna....I am not sure what you would want to do....can you fill in the cracks and then paint the cement with a dark color? We painted ours gray and it looks nice....it's cheap too....let us know what you decide to do!

Subject: Re: we tore up the carpet.... Sat 17 Mar 2007, 9:54 am

Donna,
A friend of mine tiled their porch's cement deck using broken up tiles they got for little money. This could be done right over the cement. Another inexpensive fix is to paint the cement using a faux type finish so the smll cracks look like they are suppose to be there. This is what I plan to do to our porch
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Very Valuable Member Joined : 12 Oct 2006 Posts : 460

Moderator Age : 28 Joined : 12 Oct 2006 Posts : 2055

I think it's fun to do as much as we can ourselves....actually we have never hired anything done...DH has went as far as to rent a big digger to do landscaping! It's fun to us...it may not allok as nice as if someone else did it...but that's ok Smile

We think we are going to rent a sander and then stain the floor....not sure yet!

Subject: Re: we tore up the carpet.... Sun 18 Mar 2007, 10:31 am

keep us posted Kim ...
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Gayla

"They take great pride in making their dinner cost much; I take my pride in making my dinner cost so little."

---Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Subject: Re: we tore up the carpet.... Sun 18 Mar 2007, 4:16 pm

I like the destroy it yourself wording lol,,so true!

Subject: Re: we tore up the carpet.... Sun 18 Mar 2007, 5:27 pm

hehehehehehehehe
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Gayla

"They take great pride in making their dinner cost much; I take my pride in making my dinner cost so little."

---Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Moderator Age : 28 Joined : 12 Oct 2006 Posts : 2055

Well, DH came home this morning and told me we are painting the floor. So, I guess that's what we are doing! I hope it looks ok Smile

I am excited!