OLD FLOORING - RIP IT ALL UP

Bertie! Where’s that mischievous moggy got to? Ah, there he is. Taking a cat nap on my freshly washed bedding. Nothing’s sacred where cats are concerned.

Cats love the whoosh of freshness

Refreshed from our Maltese adventure, it's time to get rid of this awful dark red carpet – sort of Chilean merlot meets sleezy whorehouse. Not really my kind of colour and can’t understand why the previous owners would have chosen it either but when I consider the range of carpet colours festooned about the house prior to refurbishment (pink, green, beige) then why not throw in some red in as well. There’s a reason why most of us carpet our homes in the same colour - for continuity and flow.

Perfect for hiding red wine spillage

Wait, what’s this? Under the hideous red appears to be a second lot of flooring. Black tiles with red and white swishes of colour. Ugh! Don’t know what’s worse the red carpet or these things. Up they come.

What are these awful tiles?

Speaking to our new neighbour and inviting him in for a tour of the house, he just happened to mention that the black tiles which I’d ripped up with gay abandon might have been vintage thermoplastic tiles. Oh no!

Old thermoplastic tiles

A quick consultation with Doctor Google confirmed my worst fears. These old-fashioned tiles sometimes laid down as a damp proof course in by-gone days could contain asbestos. F**k!!! I might not live to regret this. Not only have I probably reduced my lifespan by chiselling them off with a screwdriver, no gloves or mask worn but I also took them to the tip, unbagged, and dumped them in the generic household waste section thus potentially endangering the lives of everyone working at the recycling centre. OMG! Are you nuts?

With hindsight, I should have just left them in situ. They looked so harmless. And ugly. How was I to know these might be bronchial-killers?

Well, it’s too late to cry over spilt milk or asbestosis. What’s done is done and what’s worse is that the man from Tapi Carpets said not a dicky bird when he popped round to measure up for the new floor so clearly, he was as unaware of this scenario as I was.

Too late I've taken them all up

I might jest on here but seriously, a word to anyone involved in renovating an old house particularly one built in the late 50s/early 60s – always check online before removing any materials such as old flooring, artex or boards under fascias as chances are these might contain the dreaded ‘A’ (asbestos) or other toxic substances and may have to be removed professionally.

I’m hoping that as the floor is being screed to bring it up to the same level as that of the downstairs toilet and kitchen then that will be enough to encapsulate anything that might become a problem at a later date. 

My other concern is that in removing these thermoplastic tiles, I may have created a colder surface for us to walk on by taking away the ‘thermal’ covering laid on top of the original concrete floor. Only time will tell.

Ready for new flooring