Dirty Job: Carpet Removal

Oh the horror!

Once the edging was painted, we realized the quarter round baseboard trim needed to be removed so the new carpet would be flush against the existing baseboard. Before we could do that, we had to remove the old carpet and carpet pad. We started first in the masters bedroom then moved our way through the entire upstairs.

M and I began pulling out the carpet from the corners and then slowly went around the entire edge of the room. We then rolled it, trying to stay as tight and even as possible. Rolling up the carpet revealed many questionable stains, which we presumed was from the previous owner's dog, and also a layer of gritty carpet backing powder. We carried the carpet to the garage and by having our skin contact the dirty carpet, rashes sprang up on our arms. While wishing we would have worn long sleeves but thankful for our face masks, we continued stripping away the rest of the carpet and moved on to the carpet pad.

Since the carpet pad was stapled to the floor, we simply pulled the pad off. By doing so, tufts of pad were left under the staples which meant an extra cleaning step for me. What lay beneath the pad was not a sub-floor like we had expected but an asbestos tiled floor! We then made sure to not disturb the staples so we wouldn't get asbestos dust airborne. After we picked off the tufts of pad, we cautiously nailed the loose staples back into the tiles. I swept the floors three times over while M pried off the quarter round trim. 

From there, we moved into the office/2nd bedroom and rolled up the old carpet. That room did not have any padding but there was a layer of black glue that covered up an old layer of asbestos tiles. We assumed the room used to have linoleum due to the layer of glue. After that, we took on the hallway and staircase in the same manner. Though it was a long and dirty job, we finished taking out the carpet and started painting the rooms!

Loosened the edges of the carpet in the master

Rolled carpet

Swung the closet doors out to take them off the track

Old carpet pad

Slowly peeling away the carpet pad and revealing the asbestos floor

M prying the quarter round trim off the baseboards

First round of sweeping the carpet dust

M taking it all in

The second bedroom/office only had carpet, no pad. The floor was black from covering up old asbestos tiles...possibly glue for linoleum floors

The master bedroom resembling a school room

Stripping down the hallway

Hallway asbestos tile. I thought this was rather pretty!

This was the 3rd round of sweeping! Gray asbestos floors

Last pile of dust and the full design of the master's asbestos tiled floor