Old House

I luv herfrds · Jul 31, 2012

Having trouble in this old house.
The worst thing right now is we have a free standing AC in the living room. Son has run a hose from the drain tube to a bucket. Well the bucket got dumped some how and we have mold in the living room carpet now. It is affecting hubby's health making him cough all the time.
I have pulled up all of it except for the corner where the entertainment center is sitting.
Got some old linoleum on the floor. I do not want to touch that due to the age and possible asbestis in the glue and tiles.
Only problem is it is very ugly!!!! Mustard yellow with baby poop green streaked through it! Bleah!

Not sure I want to put any carpet down, but I am thinking of an area rug or getting some laminate on sale and putting that down. I had seen some at a flooring place they had it on sale for $.99 a sqft. Would cost around $180.00 to do this room.

So should I get the laminate or just save it for the new house?
Or get an area rug to cover it?

Thinking of something easy to clean.

CottageFarm · Aug 1, 2012

I luv herfrds":1so0iwu1 said:
Having trouble in this old house.
The worst thing right now is we have a free standing AC in the living room. Son has run a hose from the drain tube to a bucket. Well the bucket got dumped some how and we have mold in the living room carpet now. It is affecting hubby's health making him cough all the time.
I have pulled up all of it except for the corner where the entertainment center is sitting.

Sorry to say this, but you need to remove all of the carpet & pad. Spray (saturate) the entire surface with a 6:1 water/bleach solution. When that is completely dry, spray or roll 2 coats of Kilz primer on the floor. The waterbourne is fine for this application.
Got some old linoleum on the floor. I do not want to touch that due to the age and possible asbestis in the glue and tiles.
Only problem is it is very ugly!!!! Mustard yellow with baby poop green streaked through it! Bleah!

The color does date it likely be a VAT or AAT material. However, the potential for mold spores is a far greater health risk than the asbestos. Especially since your hubby is already displaying a sensitivity to it. The tiles can be removed relatively safely by minimizing dust. Keep the tiles misted with a spray bottle to keep down all dust. Wear a high quality dust mask while working. Don't sweep the debris. Use a vacuum with a hepa filter to pick up smaller debris. Large peices just use your hands to pick up. It's not radioactive to handle, it's just all about the dust. Do not sand or abrade the tiles in any way. Is the adhesive under them black or creamy white? Don't bother trying to remove the adhesive. Again, use Kilz over everything. If it's the black adhesive, you'll have to use the solvent based formula.

Not sure I want to put any carpet down, but I am thinking of an area rug or getting some laminate on sale and putting that down. I had seen some at a flooring place they had it on sale for $.99 a sqft. Would cost around $180.00 to do this room.

So should I get the laminate or just save it for the new house?
Or get an area rug to cover it?

That could depend on lots of things. For me it would come down to how long I will have to live with it. If it's going to be a while, I'd put the laminate down, especially for the sake of cleanability. If it's only going to be a few months, I could deal with that & I'd probably go with rugs.
One thing to consider about the laminate, theoretically anyway, is that it (full pieces) could be removed and reused in the future.
Thinking of something easy to clean.

I luv herfrds · Aug 1, 2012

Thanks CF. Hubby want to just leave it but it is like the stuff in the kitchen. After awhile it just started breaking apart and pulling up. Right now I can barely hold the utlity knife I was using to cut the carpet into small pieces. Hubby and son will have to get that last chunk.
Had a rubber like pad under the carpet and there was no mold between the pad and linoleum it was between the carpet and pad.

Going to go see if I can find some cheap laminate today. Won't be in the new house for at least 2 or 3 more years. Going to pull up the carpet in our current office too. A later project though.

Changed my mind about the new house after this. Only the bedrooms will have carpet in them. Going to go with hardwood through the rest except for the kitchen and baths.

I luv herfrds · Aug 1, 2012

Last piece is like 4'x2.5'

CottageFarm · Aug 1, 2012

Even though you don't see any mold growth under the pad, there could (will!) still be spores present. Mold can really mess with someone with respiratory issues. I cannot stress this enough. I've seen too many people who've had to deal with the effects. So, I still highly recommend spraying everything with bleach solution & priming with Kilz. I would also wipe down adjoining surfaces with the bleach solution.

Good choice on NO CARPET. But then, I hate wall/wall carpet. :D
When we moved into this house, I tore out every stitch of carpet, put hardwood parquet throughout, including the bedrooms, kitchen and bath. But we did put laminate in the laundry/mud room. Then put down area rugs in the large areas. No more dirt & dog hair stuck in corners! :yuck: Wouldn't have it any other way.

We've installed alot of laminate for customers over the past 15 years or so. Everyone seems to be extremely happy with it. It's only down side to me is that scratches are harder to repair than with real wood, but it's not nearly as sensitive to all the mud we track in around here in the winter & spring, so I would make the same choices today after living with it for 6 years.

I luv herfrds · Aug 3, 2012

Thanks CF.

Noticed it is easier to breath in here now. It was just that carpet luckily.
Going to do like you said and wash the room down before laying the new laminate.

Hubby still is coughing a bit but not as bad as he has in the past.