I’m old enough to have been assigned the chore of ‘raking’ the orange, thick-cut, shag carpeting in our family room when I was a kid. We had a bonafide carpet rake to keep the shag looking new and not matted down under the feet of our family of six.
I remembered that dubious task this week, as my wife and I prepared for carpet layers to replace the carpets in a few of our rooms. Every year, we make a list of things that we want to refresh. This year, it was the carpet in our office, down our stairs, and in our bedroom. We have lived in our house for almost 14 years now, so it was time, as carpets are only supposed to last 8–10 years.
Related: Home Replacement Guide
We figured we might as well get the benefit of enjoying the new carpet, instead of waiting until we move someday, and someone else getting new carpet. Often times, people will re-carpet their house right before they put it on the market. I don’t think we will be at our house another 8–10 years, but we don’t have any plans to move either, so we may as well get it now and enjoy it for awhile.
We completely underestimated how much work it would be to get ready for the installers. We paid Home Depot $100 to have them move the big pieces of furniture, but we still had to move the small pieces, take out all of our drawers, and remove electronics and pictures.
Moving stuff in and out of the rooms took most of the day on Wednesday, and most of the day Thursday. In the middle of it all, the house was turned completely upside down, with the furniture in every other room in the house. Our little dog didn’t know what was going on. A few times, we found him sitting in the dark in our back hall to escape the mayhem.
On top of this project, we also had our shower doors replaced on Tuesday, have window washers coming, and are replacing some landscape lighting outside our house. My DW said our neighbors are probably thinking that we are getting ready to move, but they are not that fortunate. 😉
What house projects do you have going on right now to keep your place up-to-date?
Image: BuildDirect.com
MrFireStation 
We are getting ready to refinish our hardwood floors, which involves moving furniture out of the rooms. Refinishing hardwood floors means the furniture will have to moved out for at least three days to apply multiple coats and allow it to harden before moving furniture back in. Replacing carpet is quick by comparison.
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That sounds like a real nuisance. We had our wood floors refinished last summer, but hired the job out. Fortunately, our wood floors are just in the kitchen, main hall, and foyer – so very little furniture to move. Also, they must have used a ‘quick dry’ finish as we were only off of it for a few hours. Makes a big difference though!
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I go the DIY route and since I am willing to put in the time I get a better result then the pros. Despite using a catalyzed product, it still take multiple coats and time for the final hardening.
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I’m sure our floor guys will be back before you have to move your furniture again!
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I use Bona Traffic HD, which is a catalyzed product that gets used for gym floors. Remember I have large dogs, so I need something really durable. This product is manufactured in Sweden which seems to have high standards about health and safety, so despite being a catalyzed product does not outgas nasty odors. Should last me another 20+ years.
Here is the kicker. It is a professional grade product. They provide excellent online training videos to train their certified professional installers to properly apply their product. Their process has changed and become easier since the last time I installed it. I really enjoy doing projects like this. Sort of like watching “This Old House” and then going out and applying what I just learned.
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