Replacing carpets in house - seeking your experiences

[Gullygarden]

I am replacing a 30 plus year old carpet and vinyl floor combo. I want green, healthy, and good for another 30 years. Anybodyy using cork and linoleum? Can you share your experience and advice?
On a slab in a humid place ...

 

[onedoodle3]

All I can tell you is if you personally pull up the carpet, wear a mask over your mouth and nose. I learned the hard way pulling the carpet out of my trailer. The people that owned it before me let their dogs and cats pee all over it. I got so sick from breathing in the dust that came up with the carpet. Definitely wear a mask!!

Good luck with your project!

 

[cassie]

I am replacing a 30 plus year old carpet and vinyl floor combo. I want green, healthy, and good for another 30 years. Anybodyy using cork and linoleum? Can you share your experience and advice?
On a slab in a humid place ...

I'm putting down laminate but you might check out bamboo flooring. Lumber Liquidators has quite a selection and you can get samples to take home. The bamboo looks nice, is eco friendly, easy to care for, and much of it has a 30 year warranty.

 

[Gullygarden]

I was actually all set to do that. I have a bunch of samples and I like them. Then I started hearing the horror stories in my neighborhood. Apparently it does really well in the dry areas, but buckles badly here in the wet spots like mine, where it rains part of every day. That was what sent me off looking at cork!

 

[Gullygarden]

Thanks for the warning!

 

[Gullygarden]

Anybody have a cork floor?

 

[justbugged]

I don't think that cork will hold up to damp very well. We are now replacing our laminate floors in the kitchen with 100% waterproof plastic flooring. The floor has a lifetime residential warranty on it. Even if water was somehow able to get under the flooring, the floor can be uninstalled, cleaned, and reinstalled. The floor is called Traffic Master Allure. It is about the same cost as laminate flooring. I am excited to get this installed, as part of a kitchen remodel. I have replaced the flooring no less than 4 times in less than 20 years due to water damage.

The flooring has a 10 year commercial warranty also. Some of the flooring looks like plank wood flooring, and comes in a wide variety of colors. It is a fairly new product that we found at Home Depot.

 

[Gullygarden]

I did look at that one. Ran into reviews of seams lifting and a funny smell. Friends here have Pergo and like it, but I'm still trying for environmentally friendly.

 

[thaiturkey]

I agree that cork isn't suitable for humid places.

If you live in a humid area I would guess that it's also hot, or perhaps you mean a damp room. I also assume that 'slab' means concrete. We don't use carpets because the humidity at certain times of the years would turn them into breeding places for bugs and they would probably rot eventually. Here is what we have done:

1. Downstairs, we have covered the concrete base with a mix of coloured granite chips set in very wet cream coloured cement and ground to a smooth finish. Cool to the touch and pleasant to walk on. An alternative would be floor tile but the grout looks dirty after a while.

2. Upstairs, the concrete is covered with thick wood blocks, planed well and lacquered. Nice to step onto in the morning. Laminate, from my past experience, isn't long lasting.

 

[Gullygarden]

Well, actually not hot. mostly in the 50s and 60s. Your floors sound really neat.