I love the look of hardwood floors. Actually, who doesn't? I also believe in saving as much money as possible and when it comes to hardwood floors, it can get quite expensive. There are cheaper alternatives, though. Laminate, vinyl, etc. We all know this. One could even paint a faux wood floor and get off even cheaper. Are there even less expensive solutions to get that wood look you want?
Apparently, there have been those who have tried. At least I'm guessing so anyway. Unless this is a flooring prepping technique even Google couldn't find, I'm thinking this is exactly what this is all about:
I found this under the carpet I was ripping up today.
My main question and concern is this:
Even IF (highly unlikely) it originally looked like wood, how is tape supposed to be cleaned exactly?
Floor prep or faux finish, either way, whoever put this tape down, did it meticulously.
I was afraid of what I was going to find under it. After all, this is an old home, so surely it has years of people not taking the time to rip out previous flooring.
Whew! Concrete!
The tape wasn't even hard to scrape up. It's still very wet though, so I'm sure that's why.
Still a very long way to go. I have my work cut out for me, no doubt.
The smell is getting worse and I'm starting to sneeze a lot. Bad sign of growth I don't want in my home.
The silver lining? New flooring of course!
Bedtime.
EDITED TO ADD THIS:
I couldn't sleep (due to the smell in the house), so I started scraping more of the "tape" off the floor. The bigger pieces I was able to detach made me realize it looked more like brown paper bags rather than masking tape. So, I Googled this technique and sure enough, crazy enough, it exists.
I realize I don't have to scrape all that up for new flooring, but it's obviously wet and it is becoming moldy as well. I just want to do it right and start fresh and clean.
5 comments:
Your hardwood would be beautiful if it is fixable. If I were you I would have a few people come out that do this sort of thing. Get bids, information. Then weigh the options, and think about how your body will feel after doing such a project. Know that if done right it will last you many years if this is the dream home for you. I would not be able to sleep either, thinking of all that needs to be done and feeling anxious to be done. Good luck to you. Will check back with you to see your progress.
No, this isn't hardwood. It was just a technique or something the previous owners did. I don't even know what kind of floor I'm going to replace it with, yet. Not carpet, I know that.
Hey, I'm all for laminate. I love the warranty, love the look (hard to tell it from the real thing) Also love the ease with which it went down, but especially the durability and maintenance! I love mine. It is very thick, almost like a real plank of wood and cleans so easy and doesn't scratch AND was cheaper than the real stuff.
How weird, I have never heard of tape or paper bags under carpet but it made me wonder if it was on old technique used under wood flooring. I did read somewhere that wetting old adhesive made it easier to take up, so maybe iit is just wet adhesive. You are so right, you never know what you will find when working on an older home. We rented the Stripper at a tool rental company. Best of luck with you project.
I feel your pain!! Good luck at getting it all up! We ended up calling in the pros because we got tooo tired and after almost 3 months I am ready to have my house back!!
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