Renovating your home’s interior should be an activity done every once in a while. Not only does it help to give your space a breath of fresh air, but it compliments your evolving personality as well. In some instances, you may even want to give your interiors a full-fledged face-lift.
Modern home aesthetics start from the ground up. So, if you have old carpets that are on their last leg, consider removing them outright. Replacing them with clean engineered hardwood flooring is an excellent idea.
Here are the seven ways on how to replace carpet with hardwood:
1. Gather The Tools
The first thing you need to do when replacing carpet with hardwood is to gather the necessary tools. Every part of manual labour requires its own, respective set of supplies. Carpet removal and hardwood flooring installation are no different. To begin with, you’ll have to get your hands on a utility knife, floor scrapper and a pry bar. For tidying up purposes, be sure to also get a few large garbage bags as well.
The best part about removing carpet from your floor is that it doesn’t require a plethora of tools. However, the previously mentioned supplies will be your best friends for the job to come. When you have gotten all of them, you are now ready to get going.
2. Trim Detachment
Carpet that ends at a specific area will usually be marked by a strip of trim. This is, for the most part, a metallic strip that is designed to make all end points look better. When you start to remove carpet, it is important to get rid of the trim carefully.
As such, you’ll have to employ a lot of patience here for two reasons. Trim can be heavily nailed down into the floor, and won’t easily be removable through initial labour. In addition, you don’t want to damage the floor itself, when taking it out. Figure out how entrenched your trim is, before uninstalling it.
3. Removing The Carpet
The main challenge when trying to remove carpet with hardwood flooring is the removal process. Since every interior is different, you’ll have multiple options available. However, all carpets will be installed on your floor in one of two ways. So, you’ll have to first decide which way it is, before beginning.
The first way is via non-tacked strips, in which you’ll have to remove the edgings and cut into the carpet. Then, pry up on the carpet’s corner and pull it free from the strips. Other carpets will be installed with tacks. All you need here is your pry bar, which can easily separate the carpet from the installed tacks underneath.
4. Debris Cleanup
Once all applicable carpet has been removed, you’ll be left with a lot of dust accumulation. This is the result of your carpet being installed for quite some time. In addition, carpet tacks and staples will most likely still be present. You’ll have to conduct a thorough cleaning next, in order to make the ground suitable for a new hardwood installation.
Sweep the floor properly until all debris has thoroughly been cleared. Do a final inspection of the floor, and make sure all sharp objects are no longer present. Afterwards, you can use a vacuum cleaner to make the space ready for the new hardwood to come.
5. Hardwood Type
Now that your floor is primed for a new hardwood installation, you’ll have to decide on which type is needed. For the most part, hardwood comes in two forms; solid and engineered. Solid hardwood comes with a clear protective layer, and can be regarded as a single plank of wood. Plus, they generally aren’t that difficult to install over your respective subfloor.
Engineered hardwood, on the other hand, is formed by bonding multiple wooden planks together. This is a very high-quality option, and is not impacted by external factors such as humidity. Depending on your preferences, you may choose one hardwood type over the other.
6. Professional Installation
By all accounts, it is recommended that you enlist the help of a professional for the job. Hardwood flooring can be installed by yourself, but there are several advantages to outsourcing the labour. For example, a correctly installed hardwood flooring will only serve to increase your home’s value. Should you ever decide to move one day, this will add on to a listing price!
7. Don’t Ditch Carpeting Yet
Hardwood flooring is an excellent way to provide the spaces in your home with a modern aesthetic. However, they are still liable to sound while walking or running over it. Should you want to mitigate the audible noise, cover the most-trafficked areas with a small carpet!
Many homeowners have often noted the value of a proper hardwood flooring installation. As such, you may want to get rid of your home’s old carpet flooring, to make room for it. Once you have, you’ll be admiring the overall product every time you lay eyes on it!
