The 805: Carpet removal

 

It's go time. Today I removed carpet in the huge living room and master bedroom.

So as you can see above I had wall-to-wall carpet to tackle. Not to mention I'm pretty sure it hadn't been changed since it was installed in '66. It was heavy, smelly and overall gross. I discovered the guy before had cats.

I started by pulling up a corner and going all the way around the room ripping the edges from the tack strip. Then I realized that there was no way I could roll it up and take it out. I did a quick google how to search and saw that it's smart to cut the carpet into manageable pieces so you can roll them up and make it a one-woman job.

I got my box knife and started sawing away. After a start I could rip it on my own. This part was hard, but not too bad.

On to the foam...While the foam pad was much easier to get up it was absolutely disgusting. Decades of smells and dirt and pet hair was embedded in the top. As I rolled and carried most of it ended up on me. I'm so glad I listened to my dad and had my gloves, glasses, and mask which he told me I was to wear at all times. I'm really proud of my first time DIY demo. I realize it wasn't the most difficult job, but it's done.

living room

I'm pleased to see that the slab is still in good shape. There are only hairline cracks and a few places to fill. The bedroom is the same. I gave a weak attempt to lift up some of the linoleum, but I will be renting a power tool for that job. Scraping that by hand is not happening.

Another small project I did was remove the nonsense doors that led from the hall to the kitchen and from the living room to the kitchen. I have no idea why someone would want them there to cut everything off. But they are gone now and while the doorway is still narrow it does open it up somewhat. Definitely an improvement.

before

after