Pulling up that shag carpet could reveal a lovely hardwood
floor
– or a warped plywood one
Souped up on one too many episodes of TLC’s Trading Spaces, you and the wife decide it’s time to pull up that nasty shag carpeting in the living room. But wait just a minute there He-man.
Before you get too excited, take a peek to see what you’re in for, advises John Tirri, owner and operator of J & J Contract in Gilroy. This doesn’t take superhuman strength or much expertise. Simply use a set of pliers to pull up the nap for about six inches on either side of a corner point, lift the carpet pad underneath and take a gander.
A hardwood floor will have barely visible seams and will also likely have a bit of luster even after years spent under all that padding.
“Your chances of finding wood flooring underneath are about 50/50 and then if you do, about 50/50 of finding it in decent condition,” said Tirri, who has been in business locally since 1960.
The more you know about the history of your home and its owners, the better, said Tirri. Carpet is often laid to cover everything from shabby repairs to warped, damaged or stained wood and homeowners must be willing to take the risk if they’re contemplating the removal of their old carpet.
Plumbing problems can lead to damage near bathroom doorways in areas like hallways and master bedrooms. A weak-bladdered dog or overfilled planter could have stained or warped the wood underneath over time, so even finding good-looking wood under all four corners of the carpet is not a guarantee of beautiful floors.
Plywood sheets or rough wood are signs of a sub-floor, a support structure not really fit for finishing. Mostly made from Douglas fir trees, it will be rough with a tannish or yellowish hue and obvious grooves between slats. This type of structure will require a new floor to be laid over it at a cost starting near $9 per square foot for standards like oak flooring to $18 per square foot for more exotic board like Pecan or Brazilian Cherry wood.
These costs reflect only materials, so homeowners should expect to part with a substantial sum. The average two-room job will cost around $5,000 according to Bernice Sanchez, estimator for Freddie Sanchez Hardwood Floors in Gilroy, but clients with large homes have paid up to $65,000 or more for wood in 80 to 85 percent of the home.
“Basically, if you get a decorator involved, they get crazy,” said Sanchez. “You’re looking at very distinct sizes that are very coordinated with whatever décor you’re looking at doing. Oak is your steadfast floor, though. We do probably 80 percent oak and 20 percent exotic wood.”
For an at-home job, it’s just fine to start ripping if you think the corners look good.
“Just get a corner and start pulling at it,” said Sanchez. “You’ll have to get a crowbar or something to remove the tack strip, but the average person who’s in decent shape should be able to do a room in about an hour and a half.”
Disposing of the old carpeting may be the bigger challenge though. Carpet cannot be placed in the regular trash heap of the dump or be incinerated, according to Sanchez. Instead, homeowners must take it to a recycling section of their local dump, where fees may be quite high.
“Most of your demolition costs, if we do it, are actually the dump fees,” said Sanchez.
When laying a wood floor homeowners may choose between two fairly standard options at this point: prefinished wood pieces that are already stained and sealed individually or traditional wood floors, which are placed in as raw wood and then finished in the home.
Prefinished boards are a fairly dustless option and best for the weekend warrior with a minimum to moderate level of handiness, according to Sanchez.
However, the caveat there, according to Tirri, is the fact that pre-finished boards cannot be repaired after they become scratched. Laying raw wood will require at least a moderate level of handiness along with a lot of time, but it can be done, said Sanchez.
“I would never allow someone who wasn’t a professional to finish the floor, though,” she said. “That’s where your beauty is – in the finish. You take a belt sander to that thing and if you screw up ….”
The sanding process is messy, producing tiny flakes of wood that look like talcum powder and blanket the rest of the house. Staining is also quite pungent, emitting extremely strong fumes for the first two days and smelling “pretty bad” for two to four thereafter, according to Sanchez, who often recommends that customers (especially those with small children) be prepared to spend two to three nights in a hotel.
“If you have access to your bedroom and want to try it, go ahead, but some people can handle it and some can’t,” Sanchez said.
Homeowners, just remember to factor such costs into any estimates you may get, and be aware of the fact that those numbers could change dramatically based on what comes to light when the floors are revealed. If worst comes to worst, it’s still okay to re-carpet. At least then you won’t be feeling quite so shagadelic.
