Not that we were installing carpet. We stripped half a bedroom, carpet out in two strips (rolled, bagged, taped and in the trash) and the padding (almost like new in the corners) and staples and tack strips, up and out. I was deeply grateful for the immediate presence of a Dyson vacuum. We vaccuumed the teeny particulate yuck that gets under the padding as we went, like "rinse and spit" at the dentist, so we were never sitting in it or touching it.
We only planned to do half at a time from the beginning, because it's been so hot here. And because Holly's never done it, and because I'm old. (I'm lining up all possible justifications for working only two hours and then stopping to shower and blog about it.)
I warned Holly about the danger of the razor-blade knife. Then I stabbed the inside of my forearm, just a little, to make the point. Okay, it was a total embarrassing accident and it hurt, and it bled, but I'm a big (BIG) wimp, and once it was washed, a little spot bandaid is all it needed. I didn't even need painkillers. :-)
We stored our tools together for tomorrow, I took a shower, and Holly went back to bed. Her bed had been covered with sheets on the "not yet" side, and we slid it over to the newly-bare wood. Next week she's getting a new twin bed. The house is all quiet again.
A couple of hours is plenty! I've been scraping the exterior of the house for painting and some days I do two two-hour stretches with a long lunch break inbetween but some days, one two-hour shift is enough for the day.
ReplyDeleteThat's smart, breaking the carpet-pulling job up like that. It looks like the wood floor in Holly's room is in good shape, which is handy if you don't want to lay new carpet.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting, in a disturbing sort of way, just how much dirt and nastiness travels down through the carpet *and* padding over the years!
That job Frank's doing is one we'll probably start doing in the fall -- not looking forward to that one so much.
A long time ago when I lived in Alaska, I had a boyfriend who was a part time carpet guy. I helped sometimes. I hurt my back lifting rolls of carpet. I still feel it occasionally these twenty seven years later. I expect when I'm old that long ago injury will make me hunchy and decrepit. MUCH better to do a bit at a time and be kind to your back.
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