How easy is it to tear up old carpeting? Is it costly trying to repair the hardwood underneath?

Question

I just found out that the floors in my home are hardwood. I was wondering if pulling it up and redoing the hardwood floors is something I could do or do I need to hire a professional? I would like to know how costly it will be doing it yourself and hiring someone. Are there any products that will make the job easier? If you have any experience in doing a job like this, please tell me your answers and experiences.

Answer 1

I did this in my house. Cut the carpet with a utility knife into strips 3 feet wide. Roll them up, tie each roll with twine and set it out with the trash. Remove all staples from the floor and use a nail set to hammer in any exposed nail heads. When you remove the carpet, you may discover that the floors don't need sanding and refinishing, but just a good cleaning. If you do need to sand and refinish, you can rent a floor sander at any local rental place and they often come with instructional videos. Go with a drum sander for the initial sanding, an orbital sander for the fine sanding and a hand sander for around the baseboards. Check out Google for step by step instruction pages for hardwood floor restoration. I prefer oil-based polyurethane because it has a warmer appearance than water-based polyurethane. I think I spent about $400 total to redo all my floors. Much cheaper than hiring someone. You'll be very happy with the results. Nothing looks better than nice clean hardwood floors!

Answer 2

We have done this twice in various houses. It's not too hard to tear up carpeting usually. It can be tedious when you get to the carpet strips around the edge or staples all over the place if someone stapled the padding down. It took about a day each time to go around and pry up all the nails and tacks, etc. The floors had to be scrubbed, so I used Murphy's oil soap to get off the dirt and some marks from the padding. In the first house we then rented a sander and then stained and polyurethanes it ourselves, which was ok because the house was still empty and we had no children. In the second house, we just scrubbed it really well with the Murphy's oil soap and put several nice area rugs down. There are some spots here and there that aren't perfect, but it doesn't really bother me too much. You will probably find some areas where there used to be radiators or something, and someone put in plywood or whatever. You can buy some flooring to fill in these areas or just cover them up with a rug, if you don't want to spend big bucks. Friends of ours had their wood floor refinished a couple years ago and it cost them about $2000. The floor was already in pretty good shape, needed no repairs, and was not carpeted.

Answer 3

We pulled up a room with old carpet and layed hardwood floors. The carpet is easy to get up but the hard part is the tack strips used to hold the carpet in place. These would need to be pulled up which will further damage the hardwood floor beneath.
The wood under the carpet probably needs to be sanded and polished which, depending on exactly how bad of shape it is in, can be difficult to say the least.
If you want to do it yourself and have hardwood floors, I would suggest relaying a new wood floor over the old. They have some very inexpencive 'snap together' boards out there. This is what we laid and a medium bedroom and closet took us about 5 hours to complete. Both Lowes and Home Depot sell the items and have several brands and styles ranging from pine to exotic woods like bamboo.
To get a professional is not going to be cheap but if you are trying to restore an old house it may be worth it. I would call some local professionals in your area to get a better idea of what they would charge. Good Luck!

Answer 4

No you can remove the carpet yourself. You dont need a professional for that. You cant accuratly estimate the floor until you remove the carpet. This will show if there was any water damage etc done to the floor. It could be all that will need to be done is sanding, staining and sealing. Congrats on your find! You might want to get a professional to seal it or to do the lacuer so you have a great finish. You also might want to rent a floor sander, this will make the job easy. Good luck!

Answer 5

The carpet is easy. Just cut the carpet in sizes that are easiest to handle, use a sharp razor knife. And wear a mask, carpet dust is nasty! If your doing a simple repair to the floor and putting back new carpet the you can probably do it yourself. But if you going to sand and refinish the hardwood, then either get a how-to book and have instructions at hand or have a pro do it.

Answer 6

Its super easy to pull up carpeting. Keep an eye out for tiny staples and/or nails. That is how that carpet is attached att he baseboards.
Depending on the age and condition of your carpeting, the padding may be harder to remove. It can get stuck to the wood and get crumbly. Using a soft edged scraper so not to scratch the wood should take it off. You can rent a sander at most local hardware stores.

Answer 7

Tearing up the old carpeting is actually quite easy and somewhat enjoyable. Get a utility knife and carefuly cut the carpeting enough so u can put something under there so u won't damage the good wood below. Then cut the carpet in strips and roll it off along with the pad. Along the edges you may find a tack strip that holds the carpet down. U can carefully pry it off.

Answer 8

yes, it's easy to take off the carpeting
it can be a serious investment to get the hardwood floor fixed, even if You DIY... and most time consuming...
Better get payed for expert advise and do it nicely, eventhough it will Not be fast...Lot's of sanding dust, I'll tell Ya!
Good Luck! Bear Hugs! ;-)

Answer 9

its money because the cost of living went up!!! but it looks great!