Is carpet unhealthy? If so, what if you cannot afford to replace it?

[Kathleen in VA]

We've lived in this house for just over 20 years with the same carpet. It is wall-to-wall throughout most of the 1000sf - the kitchen has laminate, the bathrooms have tile. I'm not sure if we get sick more often than the average family, but it sure seems that way this year.

 

We replaced our HVAC system a few years ago with the kind with filters especially for people with allergies. Now I'm wondering if we should rip up all the carpet - I mean, will that help? Also, we cannot afford to replace the carpet or put down laminate or anything. I'm pretty sure there's just subflooring - plywood perhaps - under the carpet. What are my options?

 

Should I rip out the carpet because it could really be harming us and just deal with the ugly floors beneath? How about painting the subflooring? Is this one of those things we should take out a loan for because it is so vital to our health?

[Sue G in PA]

We lived with a sub-floor in our living room for over a year until we could afford laminate. It was aesthetically horrifying and difficult to clean. But we survived. It's a tough decision, isn't it? For us, the carpet was equally as "yucky" and very unhealthy. We are waiting now to rip out the carpet in our basement and the boys' rooms to replace with laminate. We love it so much in our living room. What did help was putting down a thin, area rug that covered much of our small living room. You could paint but would have to make sure to "seal" it so that you can mop it easily.

[Dobela]

It may be that your padding under the capet is disentigrating. When my mom's was doing that, before she could afford new, she would deep steam clean her carpets more often to pull more of the underpad crumbs out. She also felt the steam cleaning was killing anything lurking in the carpets. Even if there isn't, just having fresh smelling carpets can make you feel better. I wouldn't go to the subfloors if I could help it. Rough plywood is not going to be comfortable or esthetically pleasing.

 

We had hardwood, and loved them. Now we have laminate and hate it. But I still like both better than carpet (which have in the majority of the new house).

[DarcyB]

We steam clean our carpets a ton to help with this. We can't afford to replace the carpets, and can't handle the idea of living on concrete, especially during the winters. So we steam clean a lot. The $125+ investment in a machine was worth it for us. I also vacuum a lot. I run curtains and bedspreads through the dryer a lot to remove dander, dust and such.

 

There's also something we learned a few months ago when we had our house winterized (we qualified for a program from the electric company). The guys said that a lot of the dust issues we were having, that was driving my son mad with allergy attacks, were actually from there being leaks in the house. So their caulking, and us caulking other things they didn't, help a lot in terms of dust. Didn't get rid of it completely, but it helped.

[SonshineLearner]

Painted concrete is really pretty. I had friends who did that and it was beautiful.

;)

[elegantlion]

In our previous home I pulled up 30 year old carpet and we lived with exposed concrete. The carpet was horrid, horrid. I was never sorry I pulled it up.

 

I would probably pull it up and get some remnants to put down where there is a lot of foot traffic.

[tammyw]

When we finally buy our next house, we really want to have hardwood throughout (and tile in bathrooms, laundry, etc.).

 

We do use rugs under sofas and such though. Are those as much a problem? I'm not sure I could live without at least some sort of rug under the sofa at the very least.

[thessa516]

Sure, I'd paint subfloors. Here's a blog where she painted her subfloors, along with her year-later update. Here's a lady that is in the process of painting the subfloors in her bedroom (you can see her painted floor in the second image).

[Carol in Cal.]

The thing about carpet is that you can never completely get it dustfree. Hardwood and tile floors can be made much cleaner. So if you have family members who are allergic to dust or to airborne contaminants that are local, getting rid of carpet pretty much gets rid of a big, constant source of that stuff. But not everyone is allergic to that kind of thing, in which case carpets are cozy and nice.

 

Every time I have talked to an allergist for any reason, the first three questions they have are: Does anyone ever smoke in the home? Do you have indoor pets? and Do you have wall to wall carpeting?

[KidsHappen]

Can you pull it up and then cover the middle of the rooms with area rugs. The good things about these is that first of all they would be new. Then you could vacuum throughly and frequently. In the summer you could take them out and beat them and then sun them for a day. Plus you could have them cleaned once a year. Not perfect but probably one of the cheaper and better solutions available.

[justamouse]

My kids had such bad allergies I actually thought they had a life threatening illness. Sallow, lethargic, constantly sick, stuffed up-but the deep bags under the eyes and no evergy AT ALL scared the bejesus outa me.

 

They got diagnosed with dust mite allergies (and a host more), were put on 5 meds and we were told to *immediately* pull out the rugs. We couldn't really afford it at the time, but we also had to do SOMETHING.

 

We pulled them out, we installed laminate flooring ourselves and within a few weeks the kids were better.

 

Then they go SO much better we were able to stop all of the meds.

 

Pull out the rugs. Even if you have to paint the subfloor with an outdoor paint or put linoleum on it-take them out. Or, you could start with taking out the rugs in their rooms. They sleep 8-12 hours, that would hep a bunch right there.

 

You would not BELIEVE The gross, disgusting dust and dirt that were under those rugs and the house wasn't old! And-the lady who had owned the house previously had a top of the line vacuum (and I had bought a Meile, too) so it' wasn't for lack of vacuuming. Rugs are nothing but dirt catchers.

 

 

:grouphug::grouphug:

Edited January 21, 2011 by justamouse

[WarriorMama]

My kids had such bad allergies I actually thought they had a life threatening illness. Sallow, lethargic, constantly sick, stuffed up-but the deep bags under the eyes and no evergy AT ALL scared the bejesus outa me.

 

They got diagnosed with dust mite allergies (and a host more), were put on 5 meds and we were told to *immediately* pull out the rugs. We couldn't really afford it at the time, but we also had to do SOMETHING.

 

We pulled them out, we installed laminate flooring ourselves and within a few weeks the kids were better.

 

Then they go SO much better we were able to stop all of the meds.

 

Pull out the rugs. Even if you have to paint the subfloor with an outdoor paint or put linoleum on it-take them out. Or, you could start with taking out the rugs in their rooms. They sleep 8-12 hours, that would hep a bunch right there.

 

You would not BELIEVE The gross, disgusting dust and dirt that were under those rugs and the house wasn't old! And-the lady who had owned the house previously had a top of the line vacuum (and I had bought a Meile, too) so it' wasn't for lack of vacuuming. Rugs are nothing but dirt catchers.

 

 

:grouphug::grouphug:

 

:iagree:

 

This pretty much sums up my feelings/experience regarding carpeting.

 

If you think allergies are the source of your illness, it's worth ditching the carpet. If you really really can't right away, I would make sure to vacuum DAILY with a vacuum that has a good filter.

[AmyinMD]

If it's making you sick then I'd rip it out. We've put up with just sub floor twice after we've had to rip out flooring for various reasons. We've not done it in a main living area but I think it would be doable. We had to rip out linoleum in our bathroom due to water damage and it was sub floor for months until we had money to fix everything. Right now we have one bedroom with no carpet because my 4 yo peed on it so many times that it made the whole upstairs smell and none of us were feeling very good. I spent hours cleaning it but we found when we ripped it out so much of the smell was in the padding.

 

My dad bought a house with brand new cheap carpet in the house and couldn't figure out why it was making him sick. He ripped it out and discovered the padding was probably original to the house (30 years old) and the previous owners were smokers. I always assumed the pad got replaced with new carpet but I guess some people reuse it to save a few bucks.

[Amy Jo]

We ripped up a carpet and put down lamitate. The only issue was the floor was COLD (old mobile home). We have carpet down now, even though if I don't get a better vacuum by summer it's leaving. :/

 

But you can paint the subfloor, I paint the one in the addon/mudroom. I do have to repaint it yearly, and the traffic area could easily use painting 2-3 times a year. It's not a lot of work, but I like painting.

 

I'd rip the carpet out if you are getting sick - buy some slippers if the floor is cold. And you probably want a mask while you rip out the carpet.

 

Amy

[Kathleen in VA]

Sallow, lethargic, constantly sick, stuffed up-but the deep bags under the eyes and no evergy AT ALL

 

This is us!!!! I posted this thread and then had to go take a 2-hour nap. I still feel like I could sleep for a week. All of us who spend any time in this house feel this way right now. Dh works two jobs and he's perky. Ds22 works 4 days a week 6-6 and he's perky. The rest of us want to just curl up in a dark corner and sleeeeeeeeep.

 

Thanks for all the replies - I'm too tired to respond to them all individually. I'm going to send dh a link to this thread and let him read all your advice. Hopefully he will have the energy to do something.

 

Back to bed now. Feel like someone drained all my insides out.

[Carol in Cal.]

This is us!!!! I posted this thread and then had to go take a 2-hour nap. I still feel like I could sleep for a week. All of us who spend any time in this house feel this way right now. Dh works two jobs and he's perky. Ds22 works 4 days a week 6-6 and he's perky. The rest of us want to just curl up in a dark corner and sleeeeeeeeep.

 

Thanks for all the replies - I'm too tired to respond to them all individually. I'm going to send dh a link to this thread and let him read all your advice. Hopefully he will have the energy to do something.

 

Back to bed now. Feel like someone drained all my insides out.

 

I think that this could also indicate a CO leak. Do you have a detector in your home?

[DaffodilDreams]

My Dd and I were sick all the time before we ripped up the carpet in the house. Between the two of us, our prescriptions for asthma and allergies were around $600 a month for our part, not insurance's percentage. When dd's allergist advised ripping up the carpet because people have successfully gotten off meds afterwards, we decided to try it. We had a list of other things to do to help with the allergies, too, and a few months after following all of the advice, no more meds. I rarely have trouble with asthma now, and when I do, I can usually pinpoint the trigger. Dd's allergies aren't triggered unless I slack on the dusting and washing. FWIW, she is highly allergic to dust mites, so no carpet really helps. After seeing what all was stuck under the carpet, I would never willingly have it again. It was disgusting, and we vacuumed and steam cleaned all the time.

 

ETA: We lived with subflooring for a bit, and while it may not have been up to my friends' standards, it helped us get well and wasn't as horrid as I expected.

Edited January 21, 2011 by kimmie38017

[Audrey]

We've lived in this house for just over 20 years with the same carpet. It is wall-to-wall throughout most of the 1000sf - the kitchen has laminate, the bathrooms have tile. I'm not sure if we get sick more often than the average family, but it sure seems that way this year.

 

We replaced our HVAC system a few years ago with the kind with filters especially for people with allergies. Now I'm wondering if we should rip up all the carpet - I mean, will that help? Also, we cannot afford to replace the carpet or put down laminate or anything. I'm pretty sure there's just subflooring - plywood perhaps - under the carpet. What are my options?

 

Should I rip out the carpet because it could really be harming us and just deal with the ugly floors beneath? How about painting the subflooring? Is this one of those things we should take out a loan for because it is so vital to our health?

 

 

How old is the house? You might be surprised at what is under your carpets. Old houses tend to have surprises under there that you wouldn't expect. Some are nice surprises, like actual hardwood flooring that just needs a good refinishing (not a difficult procedure, but hard physical work to do -- beautiful results, though and so worth it!). Some are unpleasant surprises, like ancient lino laid down with tar glue.

 

If you feel the carpet is harming you, take it out. Instead of trying to refloor the whole house, live with whatever is under there, but save up your money to re-do it a room at a time. Set aside a monthly amount for the re-do. When you have enough for what you want to do, then do it, but continue socking away your savings every month for the next room. Even when you think you've got it all like you want it, continue to save that same amount and call it your "home maintenance and beautification acccount."

 

This is how we have worked on our old farmhouse --- one room at a time. We cannot afford it any other way without going into debt for it. I have never liked debt and in this economy, it is even less worth the stress and hassle. We've done it this way for a long time now, and when things come up, I'm not so stressed out about the cost because we have that savings earmarked for stuff like that. I'll admit, though, that I'm staring down at the tail end of the viability of the roof and I'm not liking the looks of how much THAT is going to cost, even though we'll do the installation ourselves.

[Kathleen in VA]

I think that this could also indicate a CO leak. Do you have a detector in your home?

 

Thank you so much for your concern, but I don't think it's possible to have a CO leak in this house. All our appliances, HVAC, hot water heater, etc. are electric. Sorry to have alarmed you.

 

How old is the house? You might be surprised at what is under your carpets. Old houses tend to have surprises under there that you wouldn't expect. Some are nice surprises, like actual hardwood flooring that just needs a good refinishing (not a difficult procedure, but hard physical work to do -- beautiful results, though and so worth it!). Some are unpleasant surprises, like ancient lino laid down with tar glue.

 

If you feel the carpet is harming you, take it out. Instead of trying to refloor the whole house, live with whatever is under there, but save up your money to re-do it a room at a time. Set aside a monthly amount for the re-do. When you have enough for what you want to do, then do it, but continue socking away your savings every month for the next room. Even when you think you've got it all like you want it, continue to save that same amount and call it your "home maintenance and beautification acccount."

 

This is how we have worked on our old farmhouse --- one room at a time. We cannot afford it any other way without going into debt for it. I have never liked debt and in this economy, it is even less worth the stress and hassle. We've done it this way for a long time now, and when things come up, I'm not so stressed out about the cost because we have that savings earmarked for stuff like that. I'll admit, though, that I'm staring down at the tail end of the viability of the roof and I'm not liking the looks of how much THAT is going to cost, even though we'll do the installation ourselves.

 

The house was new when we bought it. I've had dreams where we ripped up the carpet and found gleaming hardwood floors but this is one of those very inexpensive 3br/2ba ramblers with low-grade everything. I'm pretty sure all that's under these carpets is plywood. I will follow your advice, however, and save, save, save for new flooring. I totally agree with you about the debt thing - cant' stand it - I just feel kind of desperate. We need a new roof too. Don't you just love the second law of thermodynamics?:D

[tarana]

We steam clean our carpets a ton to help with this. We can't afford to replace the carpets, and can't handle the idea of living on concrete, especially during the winters. So we steam clean a lot. The $125+ investment in a machine was worth it for us. I also vacuum a lot. I run curtains and bedspreads through the dryer a lot to remove dander, dust and such.

 

There's also something we learned a few months ago when we had our house winterized (we qualified for a program from the electric company). The guys said that a lot of the dust issues we were having, that was driving my son mad with allergy attacks, were actually from there being leaks in the house. So their caulking, and us caulking other things they didn't, help a lot in terms of dust. Didn't get rid of it completely, but it helped.

 

How do you get your house winterized ? What do they do?

[Carol in Cal.]

Thank you so much for your concern, but I don't think it's possible to have a CO leak in this house. All our appliances, HVAC, hot water heater, etc. are electric. Sorry to have alarmed you.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh good!

[Audrey]

Thank you so much for your concern, but I don't think it's possible to have a CO leak in this house. All our appliances, HVAC, hot water heater, etc. are electric. Sorry to have alarmed you.

 

 

 

The house was new when we bought it. I've had dreams where we ripped up the carpet and found gleaming hardwood floors but this is one of those very inexpensive 3br/2ba ramblers with low-grade everything. I'm pretty sure all that's under these carpets is plywood. I will follow your advice, however, and save, save, save for new flooring. I totally agree with you about the debt thing - cant' stand it - I just feel kind of desperate. We need a new roof too. Don't you just love the second law of thermodynamics?:D

 

 

That's not a bad thing, Kathleen! Don't feel desperate! Look at it as a decorating challenge. You are savvy enough to tackle plywood floors, right? :001_smile: They might look nice painted or maybe use one of those low vapour paints or stains. (I'm thinking a white-wash look would be nice and the lightness brightens up a room). It would make the cleaning easier if they are painted in some way. Plywood is more porous than hardwood, and the dirt wouldn't grind into the wood as much that way. If they get cold, you can look for inexpensive area rugs, which are easy to toss in the wash or beat regularly.

[Kathleen in VA]

Sure, I'd paint subfloors. Here's a blog where she painted her subfloors, along with her year-later update. Here's a lady that is in the process of painting the subfloors in her bedroom (you can see her painted floor in the second image).

 

Meant to tell you that these blogs are very inspiring and encouraging. When I get to feeling better I am going to look at these again and get to work. Their floors are so lovely.

[Kathleen in VA]

That's not a bad thing, Kathleen! Don't feel desperate! Look at it as a decorating challenge. You are savvy enough to tackle plywood floors, right? :001_smile: They might look nice painted or maybe use one of those low vapour paints or stains. (I'm thinking a white-wash look would be nice and the lightness brightens up a room). It would make the cleaning easier if they are painted in some way. Plywood is more porous than hardwood, and the dirt wouldn't grind into the wood as much that way. If they get cold, you can look for inexpensive area rugs, which are easy to toss in the wash or beat regularly.

 

The hardest part is going to be convincing dh that it is a good idea. He has many fine qualities, but being open to trying new and adventurous things is not one of them. I like your idea of the white-wash look - our house is tiny so that would make it feel larger and more cheerful. The carpet is chocolate brown which I've never cared for.

[Night Elf]

You would not BELIEVE The gross, disgusting dust and dirt that were under those rugs and the house wasn't old!

 

:iagree: When we pulled up our carpeting I was so grossed out! And I had a $300 vacuum and a steam cleaner I used on a regular basis. It looked like a dirt yard underneath that carpet. And the pad was disintegrating. It literally broke into crumbs when we picked it up. It was about 10 years old.

 

We used this flooring: Traffic Master. We love it because it's waterproof. DH says the cost is about $45 for 24 square feet (that was a single package). We did one room at a time so the cost was spread out. We covered about 1500 sq. ft.

[Kathleen in VA]

:iagree: When we pulled up our carpeting I was so grossed out! And I had a $300 vacuum and a steam cleaner I used on a regular basis. It looked like a dirt yard underneath that carpet. And the pad was disintegrating. It literally broke into crumbs when we picked it up. It was about 10 years old.

 

We used this flooring: Traffic Master. We love it because it's waterproof. DH says the cost is about $45 for 24 square feet (that was a single package). We did one room at a time so the cost was spread out. We covered about 1500 sq. ft.

 

This looks beautiful - I could do dd18's room for about $150. Thanks for the recommendation.

[DarcyB]

How do you get your house winterized ? What do they do?

 

They caulked all of our plumbing and windows, weatherstripped the doors, new insulation. Weatherized is what I should've said, not winterized.

[Cinder]

We lived in a house where we had to pull up the carpet. It was old and nasty and stinky. We couldn't afford new flooring so dh put a couple coats of polyurethane to hold us until we could. We lived with that for about 1.5 years. It was fine and easy to keep clean--just damp mop.

[sleepymommy]

If you've got a gut feeling that the carpets need to go, I would trust that instinct.

 

Carpets can be very unhealthy, old and new ones.

 

 

We recently visited my aunt in different state and there was limited bed space so ds4 and I slept on the floor. Ds6 has allergies so I didn't want him on the floor so he and dh (don't get me started on dh who refuses to sleep on floors) slept on the bed.

 

I made sure to keep ds4's head on the pillow and away from the carpet, waking up every hour just to make sure he didn't roll off.

 

By 4am he was horribly ill, dh took him downstairs at 6 am and by 9am he was wheezing and could hardly breathe. He ended up in the emergency room given three 30 min. nebulizer treatments, a steroid shot, a chest xray and another nebulizer treatment with a different medication since they maxed out the dose with the original medication.

 

It was 3am when we left the hospital and we took blankets and pillows, put the third row down in our minivan and slept in the van that night. It was a really cold night and I knew my aunt would be offended that we wouldn't sleep in her house, but oh well. I was not bringing my son back in there to sleep.

 

It could have been anything that triggered his blocked airway (he had no history of asthma) but my gut tells me it was the carpet and the doc on call agreed.

 

If you think the carpet is hazard, I would get rid of it.

 

Is there a store near you that sells second-hand and surplus home materials? They sometimes carry laminates.

[Kathleen in VA]

If you've got a gut feeling that the carpets need to go, I would trust that instinct.

 

Carpets can be very unhealthy, old and new ones.

 

 

We recently visited my aunt in different state and there was limited bed space so ds4 and I slept on the floor. Ds6 has allergies so I didn't want him on the floor so he and dh (don't get me started on dh who refuses to sleep on floors) slept on the bed.

 

I made sure to keep ds4's head on the pillow and away from the carpet, waking up every hour just to make sure he didn't roll off.

 

By 4am he was horribly ill, dh took him downstairs at 6 am and by 9am he was wheezing and could hardly breathe. He ended up in the emergency room given three 30 min. nebulizer treatments, a steroid shot, a chest xray and another nebulizer treatment with a different medication since they maxed out the dose with the original medication.

 

It was 3am when we left the hospital and we took blankets and pillows, put the third row down in our minivan and slept in the van that night. It was a really cold night and I knew my aunt would be offended that we wouldn't sleep in her house, but oh well. I was not bringing my son back in there to sleep.

 

It could have been anything that triggered his blocked airway (he had no history of asthma) but my gut tells me it was the carpet and the doc on call agreed.

 

If you think the carpet is hazard, I would get rid of it.

 

Is there a store near you that sells second-hand and surplus home materials? They sometimes carry laminates.

 

Wow, I had not idea carpets could be that harmful. I'm sorry you had to experience that. I don't think we have a store nearby that sells second-hand and surplus materials but there must be someplace in the D.C. area that does. I'll search it out.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

I thought of this thread when I found this place in Baltimore!

 

http://www.secondchanceinc.org/

[Brigitte]

Are your heating/cooling vents in the floor? If so, pull one out. You will see the edge of the carpet and flooring that is under it. If you gently pull up the carpet a smidge, you will be able to see if there is hardwood or just a subfloor under the carpet.

[Parrothead]

If I had 20 year old carpeting I'd pull it up and paint the subfloor. Past 10 years (15 at most) w2w carpeting is getting nasty.