We need to replace our carpet downstairs - it is a 20 year old carpet that has permanent dog smell in it. We know we are going to replace it but with us trying to put all extra $$ on to our credit card debt and pay that off (should pay that off by Jan/Feb 09), should we take up the carpet and just deal with the concrete slab? Or leave the dirty disgusting carpeting down?

Can you read into this ~ kids sitting on this floor, so *gross* that I hate walking on it with my bare feet, can you say major allergy issue!!!!

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First of all, congratulations on being so close to paying off your credit card debt. Before you undertake the project of removing the carpet, you should ask yourself if you could live with the concrete slab for the time being or if the carpet removal would be too much of a temptation to spend money to make the area livable. If you and your family can honestly deal with the bare slab for the duration of your debt repayment time, then go for it!

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Michele
Member of the Welcome Wagon
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If it were me, I would take up the carpet and buy a large rug. In fact, I think I will ask my dh about that for upstairs here. Our carpet has been through pets, 4 kids who are grown now, 2 toddlers right now and his cleaning impaired ex-wife. He wants to wait until the boys are a little older before replacing.

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Wendy~Self-proclaimed hippie momma to Bob and Jamie

I like Chickyhip's idea of getting a large rug to put down for the time being. You can also go with a commerical carpet that doesn't require padding. At least it wouldn't be as cold and you can still use the room.

You might also want to check at carpet remnant stores. I've never paid full price for carpet, and I've recarpeted various rooms. Carpeting is not a very hard job either, you really don't need to hire someone to do it. Heck, with it being downstairs, you might just not bother with the pad, just get a cheap plush, roll it out, straighten the edges and call it good!

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We recently ripped out all of our home's carpets and replaced it with wood laminate. We have tons of allergy issues in our family as well.

Most of the carpet was over 20 years old, so I can relate.

DH had to remove the carpet prior to installation of the laminate (we had the contractor do the install) and we lived with the concrete slab floors for a few weeks.

I would also suggest you find large rugs to cover the slab, as it can still be icky to walk or sit on. I don't know how old your home is (ours is almost 50 years old), but we still had residue on the slab that really couldn't be cleaned off effectively. The older portion was "black" from whatever adhesive they used to lay the original flooring (linoleum). The newer portion, which we added 10 years ago, was in better shape, but still felt like you were walking outside on the sidewalk.

Good for you for paying off that CC debt!!

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SAHM of 4

August food budget (groceries/take-out): $500.00/$75.00
Total spent: $238.97/$14.12

July budget/spent: $500.00/$650.00

I'm in favor of leaving the carpet until you're ready to replace it.

I know you want to get rid of it, but I'm against half-measures. Either you have the funds to do the project right or wait.

Keep in mind, when you replace the carpet, the installers will remove and properly dispose of the carpet for free, ie: recycle it (or include it in the installation price). Doing it yourself won't save you any money and may result in the carpet going to a landfill. Plus you'll have to leave the tack strips down which will be a MAJOR safety hazard until the new carpet is installed. If you opt to remove them, you'll end up paying extra to have new ones installed. If too many of them are damaged, you'll have to pay extra, too. Either way, on concrete it isn't pleasant to have to re-install them. Plus, the uninsulated thermal mass in the basement - which is always cold anyway - will just increase your heating costs this winter. And do you really want to do the furniture moves twice?

Consider cleaning the carpet until you can afford to replace it. If worse comes to worse, cover it with 'construction plastic' which is rolls of plastic that sticks to the carpet. It is supposed to be laid down to protect new carpets while contractors are working in a house, but in your case, it would isolate you from the dirt and smell.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

I had kind of told myself to "deal with it" until we were ready to put the hardwood floors down. Tonight I was down there doing some work on my other computer and all I could smell was dog urine and that dog smell (the same smell we have identified since we have owned this house). I said something to dh and he said, well we just rip it up and leave it as is until we are ready. So he changes his closes and down he comes to start ripping! The carpet is gone! And I can already smell the difference.

Can I tell you how NASTY this carpet was - the entire underside of the carpet was full of stains -- how gross!!!! I'm so glad it is gone!!! I do have 2 large area rugs to put down for now.

And this was such an eye opener - I WILL NEVER HAVE CARPETING IN MY HOUSE AGAIN! The amount of dirt I swept up under this carpet was enough to fill a grocery bag! NEVER AGAIN!!!!

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I'm glad you guys got rid of the carpet! I wish I could get rid of mine...

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Wendy~Self-proclaimed hippie momma to Bob and Jamie

I felt the same way when we removed our carpeting. I'm glad you were able to get rid of the grungy carpet.

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Michele
Member of the Welcome Wagon
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