Hallway Floor Redo

This was when the fun really began with the whole renovation thing. This was the one thing that I was chomping at the bit to do because it drove me insane. Pulling out the nasty carpet in the hallway.

We might as well be real here. Real people deal with real problems, and real problems are often very messy and gross problems. Especially when those problems deal with kids or pets. And I know that there are a whole lot of other people out there who have had to deal with this as well. Perhaps this post will help someone else out there. So here's the raw honest truth of the matter.

This hallway was gross. The cats liked it in there, and I mean they really liked it in there, which drove me absolutely bananas. I don't know if there used to be cats in this house before us or not, and maybe the hallway used to be their favorite area in the house too, but the male cats were especially drawn to this area and there was nothing I could do to deter them. Believe me, I tried everything. 

E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. I'm sure we lined the pockets of every pet odor remedy CEO in the country.

I may or may not have even resorted to laying down aluminum foil all over the floor. Cats are supposed to hate aluminum foil. Hate, despise, avoid at all costs, run away from... you get the picture. And one of our cats may or may not have even cared about the aluminum foil and even thought it was cool.

Stupid cat.

Yeah, we have a stupid cat. I truly think he is a few bricks short of a full load. Or maybe he just skips the load altogether. Either way, he loves whatever every cat is supposed to hate. And he has this vacant nothing-between-the-ears blank look in his eyes. He's just not right.

So anyway, I couldn't wait to pull this carpet up and get rid of it.  We're the type of people that give even the stupidest of cats a forever home, but I was at the end of my rope and near tears dealing with it. I had scrubbed and cleaned the area to the bone constantly and I was tired. I was so good at it that people couldn't smell the odor. But I knew it was still there because the cats kept going back to it. So one day when my husband took our son and his two friends out golfing I tore into that carpet with a vengeance.

I gathered up my supplies for the job and I yanked that carpet out like a mad woman, laughing an evil little laugh the entire time. Demolition never felt so good!

I have never done this before, but after watching a few YouTube videos I felt ready and equipped. Did you know that you can be an expert in anything after watching a few YouTube videos? Yup, just like staying at a Holiday Inn makes you smarter. Or something like that. Or maybe ripping up carpets is just super easy.

(It's just super easy, but don't let anyone else know. Let them think you are brilliant and a genius.) 

The carpet came up fast and then the padding came up almost just as easy. It's really a no-brainer. The tough part was dealing with all of those staples.

Because of my superior education through YouTube University I knew to buy these super cool neat pliers that have a crooked nose. I have no idea what it is called. To me they were the thingamajiggy that pulled the staples up easily. I didn't have to try and wedge them around the staples and figure out how to leverage them out. It was a grab and go thing. They were invaluable.

I also knew to buy a gallon of Kilz Max primer. This was the gallon of gold that was going to solve all of my problems with the cats. I covered the entire hallway and the bottom of the walls with this primer in 2 to 3 coats. I wasn't taking any chances or cutting any corners here.

It covered the smell (which was brought up with the carpet) immediately! The paint was dry when the boys came home from golfing and the only thing they could smell was paint. Glory Hallelujah! (Yes, this was definitely praise worthy.) This was also a surprise to them because I hadn't said I was going to pull out the carpet. My husband is a very patient man, that's all I have to say. :D

The next day we started laying the new flooring. My good kitty was very interested in the process. I think she was glad the carpet was up too. She was forever trying to "cover" the hallway with invisible kitty litter when it had the carpet in it. Yeah, she's not too smart either, but at least she is a good kitty!

We ended up going with Shaw Resilient vinyl flooring because it was waterproof and scratch resistant. We wanted something that was durable and could hold up to the cats and a bunch of kids running on it and still look like hardwood floor. We chose the Resort Teak color. It ended up matching the stair banister and posts perfectly. Score!

This flooring was very easy to lay down. The hardest parts were just getting the right measurements around the banister post and doorway molding.

The carpet on the stairway will eventually be ripped up too, but I'll be doing that later. Redoing stairs takes a lot of time and effort. No less than a month and I had promised my husband no more new projects until the ones I started get finished first. Like the kitchen. Hold on, stairs.... I'll get to you soon....I promise....

And here is the final finished hallway after I repainted the walls.

It looks a thousand times better! (Ignore the chest. We put it there until we got to work in the living and dining rooms.) We still have to put on the transition piece to the linoleum but that won't take much. The linoleum will also eventually be replaced with stone. We're hoping to do that next year. 

But the best part of this whole project?? I haven't had to clean up a mess since! We've had no problems with the cats at all! And it has been 3 weeks now since we finished this project and it has remained clean! Whatever was in this hallway just triggered them terribly. Kilz Max is AWESOME! I recommend it to anyone! And no, I wasn't asked to endorse them or anything. I highly doubt they even know my blog exists. I'm just one satisfied person. I'm one of those clean types of people. I like a clean house. This hallway was a huge thorn in my side and a great source of embarrassment to me. No more! Now my house feels clean as well as looks clean! And even though there was no risk of him losing it, Stupid Cat still has a forever home. He should be bowing at my feet and rubbing my legs with thankfulness. 

So if there is anyone out there struggling with pet issues like this, Kilz Max is amazing stuff. Make sure you get the Max. There are other types out there, but the Max is the one that covers all stains and odors. It's worth the money spent. Frankly, I would have paid twice as much for it. It's that good. 

Next post will be about ripping out the dining and living room carpets. Until then, toodles!