Carpet to LVP or hardwood
HU-35913549
2 years ago
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Robbin Capers
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoRelated Discussions
Carpet vs hardwood "aging-in- place"--carpet or hardwood??
Comments (7)My mother is 85 years old and has Parkinson's, so she has trouble getting around. I am keeping her in mind with your question. I would go with a low pile carpet, if you were my parent. It is softer for when she falls down. Mom has hardwood in her foyer, dining, and halls, and although they are beautiful, they are mostly covered with throw rugs, which are a tripping hazard, but less slippery for her. She has trouble with getting a "grip" on the floor when standing up, and carpet helps with that. Wheelchairs will run grooves in a hardwood floor....See MoreReplacing hardwood with LVP?
Comments (11)It sounds like the current updates have brought your house into the range where the value meets the purchase price. You might find that removing the damaged wood and replacing with new and then doing a full sand/refinish over the entire floor MIGHT turn out to be roughly the same as removing all of it and installing new LVP throughout. A quick calculation tells you whether or not a patch + sand and refinish is worth it or if a full removal/replacement with a lower value product is the way to go: $4-$5/sf for a full sand and refinish (no patches or repairs to do). You add in the cost of the wood itself (depends on your product but '87 was good for 3" strip hardwood) + cost of labour to patch the existing wood floor. I'm going to guess the price for the wood is going to around $6/sf (if I'm correct a narrow hardwood is going to be an easy product to source). The material = only for the areas requiring the patch. Labour to remove old and patch in new = $3-4/sf (for that area only). Add in some subfloor work for the water damaged areas = $2/sf for the patched areas. Now the full sand/refinish occurs (which is already established at $4/sf). It sounds like a lot....but wait until you do the math for the LVP. LVP (decent quality = $4/sf) + cost of removal of all flooring products ($2-$3/sf = includes dumping fees) + cost of subfloor preparation ($2/sf includes labour) + cost of install ($2.50/sf). Remember the LVP costs are for the ENTIRE square footage of the home. The hardwood patching costs (new hardwood + new subfloor material + labour) is only for the small area needing new product. The full sand/refinish costs are for the entire wood square footage. A little bit of math and you have your answer....See MoreWhat to do with this hard wood floor? Replace entire floor with LVP?
Comments (8)First of all, I've taken carpet out of many areas where there were original hardwood floors underneath them. A hardwood floor is not structurally worse than plywood; in fact it is better quality wood and therefore structurally better. So, if I were going to do LVP throughout the home, and I was worried about the subfloor (the plywood part), I would pull the carpet up first to see what is under it. If there is structurally sound plywood under the carpet then you can make your decision from there about the hardwood. You could always raise the carpeted area to the level of the hardwood and do the LVP then, which could potentially save you money, depending on the size of each room.. Or, you can look for a reducer (strip that connects two different kinds of flooring), but that probably won't be your first preference because it will create a lip and looks old fashioned. Second, in my area (midwest) the market for good used carpeting and any hardwood flooring is so hot that pre-pandemic I advertised an entire second floor of carpeting, in good used condition (no stains, but used) on craigslist and within 24 hours it was gone. People came and took it all, padding and everything. Same with hardwood - family members took theirs out, replaced it with LVP, and sold the used hardwood at an overall profit. It is not hard to take carpet out; hardwood can be trickier depending on how it was put down. Seriously, I'm a 50 year old woman and with a claw hammer and some gloves I could get that carpet up in an 6 hour day, pad and all. Two preteens could take it up in half that time. Now if the subfloor is concrete (no basement), then you may have to scrape the glue off when you remove the padding, but even then glue is usually just in targeted lines, not evenly spread all over, so there is not much to get up....See MoreTransition from engineered hardwood upstairs to LVP in basement?
Comments (10)Thank you Angel. The first flood came from frozen pipes in the ceiling. They were installed too close to the foundation, we had -50C cold snap, and burst when they thawed. It was the line to the laundry room and we didn't even notice the hot water wasn't working, since we wash using cold water. We fixed that issue by moving the pipes into the heated living space, under a small bulkhead (basement ceiling). The last flood came up through the septic system. We have a 45-year-old house and an unusual (for today) septic system. A second tank holds fluids and then it gets drained (underground) into a mound back in the woods. The pump in that tank had failed but we didn't know. Then a toilet ran all day while we were working outside, and grey water came up in the laundry room and flowed out from there. The house does not have a backflow valve. Water wasn't deep - maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of water, just enough to soak the underlay/floor. Good times. At least there were no floaties, thanks to the water running all day and flushing out the lines. We now have a hydromatic pump out there, and we will be installing a wifi-enabled alarm system. Preferably one with a big flashing light! We don't have a back-up pump - hopefully the alarm system does the trick. Thanks for suggesting it, though. I'll mention that, and the battery back-up, to my husband. We definitely don't want to experience that again. We waited 6 years to reno our basement, and we've now refinished it twice in the last 7 months. Hopefully the third time's a charm....See MoreHU-35913549
2 years agoHU-35913549
2 years agoSJ McCarthy
2 years agoHU-35913549
2 years agoredrocksgirl
2 years agojulieste
2 years ago
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