I finally decided to get around to tearing the carpet out of my living room and putting in laminate...and, I ran into an issue.

It seems as though the dingbats who built my house, put the woodstove hearth on top of the carpet rather than on the floor and carpeting around it.

So, now I have two choices. I can either move the stove out (it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 400#), take that tiled hearth out, tear up the carpet/padding, and do it right...or, I can leave it as is, cut the edge even, lay down the laminate and put a quarter-round around it to hide that edge which would be the easier thing to do.

Is there any reason I shouldn't do #2 (other than the fact that I'll always know it's there and it'll bug the hell out of me)?

Oh, and by the way, carpet is NASTY! No matter how clean you think you keep it...I almost threw up a little when tearing it out. Yuck.

The older I get the less I want to do. Don't be me and fix it the right way so you can sleep at night!

For me it would depend upon how long I plan to live there.

I think most would do option #2.

The one thing that would convince me not to...would be if I was discovering any soft spots in the subfloor.

Are sure moving the stove is that big of a deal? Often if you pull the fire bricks out they get a LOT lighter. IS the hearthstone once of those "one piece" sort? Are you overdue for a really good stove cleaning anyway? How cold is it there...we're already burning wood here.

Certainly sounds like a rat ass job to start with!!

Since you say the carpet is vomit inducing nasty, isn't there a possibility that you will get option 2 all done and then get occasional 'whiffs' of the nastiness? THAT would piss me off and definitely leave me wanting to fix it right.

Do it right or you will always be bothered by it.

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
Certainly sounds like a rat ass job to start with!!

Yep. That's probably why I've been putting it off for the past year or so.

I just got tired of having the stack of flooring out in the shop taking up room and I got a wild hair today and just started cutting.

The more I think about this, it's been sitting like this since '06 without problem, so I can't imagine that it would be an issue to do option 2.

Hmmm...perhaps I'll just sit and stare at it this evening and decide in the morning.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I just swept the chimney and cleaned the stove up last week so I can't use that as an excuse.

Remove carpet. Level subfloor. Use heat resistant flooring under stove. Ensure you meet code with distance from stove to flammable laminate flooring.

My check more and more has become if I can’t complete the following statement “If I don’t do this project, then “X” is going to happen.” and X doesn’t result in fire/death/notable life impacting event I tend to leave the project alone. Very few people live or work in buildings built without short cuts. If that hearth has been there since ‘06 and isn’t falling apart I would leave well enough alone and take that extra time and money and put it to good use. If you have time and money burning a hole in your pocket then I say have at it and enjoy the process.

Ditto

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
Do it right or you will always be bothered by it.

Do it right.

What I say to my guys on jobsites almost weekly.

"Never enough time to do it right but plenty of time to do it twice."

Now this may not apply to your situation, but I think if you're going to stay in this house for a while, I'd do it right.

I am older and retired, so things are not as easy to do as my younger days.

I know what you mean by the yuck factor as I have pulled out all my rugs and replaced with oak flooring I nailed down myself but had a pro sand and finish. I was shocked what under the carpet and pad looked like.

Yes, I would move the stove and pull out the carpet underneath as it would bug me too and I just like doing things right. And as been mentioned, give you a chance to inspect the subfloor underneath.

My vote ... do it right.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
Do it right or you will always be bothered by it.

Agreed, I'm never sorry when I take the time to do a job right.

Yep carpet is nasty stuff. Ive done it many times the dust sucks. Wearing a mask is a must.

Do it the right way. The carpet being there might make things easier to rip up the hearth.