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Option for floor that is creating dusty smell

  • Last Updated:
  • Dec 22nd, 2021 4:27 am
Deal Addict
Jan 7, 2014
2722 posts
549 upvotes
Manitoba

Option for floor that is creating dusty smell

Hi there,
Bought a house built in early 70s. In one of the room, there is a very basic sort of rug as you can see in picture. We smell dust in the room and I am sure this rug is the culprit. Whole room ( 10x12) has this rug other than this 9 inch very cheap type tile strip which is for I dont know what purpose.

When we lifted this rug, underneath is a very thin brown paper type cardboard spread throughout and underneath that there is something that we are not sure. Do you guys make out from picture what it is?

SO if it would be to me, I will throw that rug out today but then whole room will be exposed to that brown cardboard. Room is not being used other than some toys and we dont need this room immediately.

Should we just ask a professional to come and give estimates or something DIY is possible. whole house is dated so we don't want something extremely modern. It has to blend with other parts of house. Living room has a rug which is old too but much better than this cheap kind of rust color rug.

When flooring renovations are taken , does those involve starting from scratch? That rug, that brown paper and that 9 inch tile will go out for sure but what about the material below? does that stay or that goes out as well?
I am new to anything related to house so sorry if some questions sound stupid.

picture in next post.
Last edited by Asker123 on Dec 12th, 2021 12:02 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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The end came for me (for light roast coffee) when the tasting notes at a light roast shop in Portland said: "Hints of citrus, star anise & coffee" - Unknown on the internet
21 replies
Deal Addict
Jan 7, 2014
2722 posts
549 upvotes
Manitoba
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The end came for me (for light roast coffee) when the tasting notes at a light roast shop in Portland said: "Hints of citrus, star anise & coffee" - Unknown on the internet
Deal Guru
Feb 9, 2006
13375 posts
8307 upvotes
Brampton
The stuff under the cardboard looks like Plywood to me but the low quality pictures a combined with the additional compression of RFD makes it hard to ID 100%
Deal Addict
Jan 7, 2014
2722 posts
549 upvotes
Manitoba
^ Thanks...ok lets just assume it is plywood ( I also think so btw) , when we want to improve room's flooring, does that stay or goes away. What might be below that? How many more layers. Do you know?
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The end came for me (for light roast coffee) when the tasting notes at a light roast shop in Portland said: "Hints of citrus, star anise & coffee" - Unknown on the internet
Deal Guru
Feb 9, 2006
13375 posts
8307 upvotes
Brampton
Asker123 wrote: ^ Thanks...ok lets just assume it is plywood ( I also think so btw) , when we want to improve room's flooring, does that stay or goes away. What might be below that? How many more layers. Do you know?
Plywood is generally the subfloor. Aka the Floor you build your floor on.

You lay whatever flooring you want on top of it.
Deal Addict
Jan 7, 2014
2722 posts
549 upvotes
Manitoba
OK, that means, if I dont want to fix it like my long term proper fix right away (Old house, lots of other priorities) , I can throw away the rug, the paper cardboard and that tile strip and buy a new rug from HD and put that myself and call it a day? The rug is very precisely cut. I am sure this is DIY as previous owner was an engineer from 70s and used to do many other things DIY in the house. How does getting a precisely cut rug work for DIYers?

I can read through the hardwood flooring thread but that will require a lot of research it seems if I want to DIY that and very good chances of screwing up.

Can this just replacing the rug myself can be a cost effective solution to get rid of nasty dust smelling rug?
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The end came for me (for light roast coffee) when the tasting notes at a light roast shop in Portland said: "Hints of citrus, star anise & coffee" - Unknown on the internet
Deal Expert
Feb 7, 2017
27765 posts
27802 upvotes
Eastern Ontario
I see:

Old vinyl flooring (tiles) … strip along by the register.
This is most likely the original flooring in this room since the house was built
Previous owners for whatever reason chose not to remove it entirely

Rust rug / carpeting.
Looks ancient as well.
Doesn’t seem tacked down
So guessing it’s more rug than carpet
(Almost appears industrial like grade … something someone might put down for a high traffic spot … or as a stop gap in an entrance way to keep wet & dirty shoes from going any further )

Immediately under the rug / carpeting
Some sort of corrugated cardboard underlay
Not 100% sure if it’s actual underlay
Or whoever put down the rug just decided to lay down this cardboard … just because

And lastly … very old grey faded rough plywood
Most likely original to the house

As others have said… the plywood sheeting is probably your sub floor
And they’ll be nothing under it except the joists
(Joists form the grid between the support beams in your house )

I would take up the rug / carpet
Assess the plywood
And then plan for replacement flooring
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Sep 27, 2006
5961 posts
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Not so easy there Ma…
Asker123 wrote:
When flooring renovations are taken , does those involve starting from scratch? That rug, that brown paper and that 9 inch tile will go out for sure but what about the material below? does that stay or that goes out as well?
I am new to anything related to house so sorry if some questions sound stupid.

picture in next post.
That 9 inch "tile" I believe is linoleum and would most likely contain asbestos. Asbestos is contained in many things in older homes.
Deal Addict
Jan 7, 2014
2722 posts
549 upvotes
Manitoba
Thank you PointsHubby for good insight.

Yes seems everything this looks like industrial grade. It is a proper room in the house. Was not being used as a bedroom. There was a table and chair and a old sofa. Not a high traffic shoe removing area lol ... just that they didn't do any updates etc....

What exactly to assess the plywood? Seems like we can do it . What to look for in it? Rotten etc ?
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The end came for me (for light roast coffee) when the tasting notes at a light roast shop in Portland said: "Hints of citrus, star anise & coffee" - Unknown on the internet
Deal Addict
Jan 7, 2014
2722 posts
549 upvotes
Manitoba
fergy wrote: That 9 inch "tile" I believe is linoleum and would most likely contain asbestos. Asbestos is contained in many things in older homes.
Its not a tile per se. we lifted it, it is very thin sheet of vinyl it seems..
— — — — — — — — — — — —
The end came for me (for light roast coffee) when the tasting notes at a light roast shop in Portland said: "Hints of citrus, star anise & coffee" - Unknown on the internet
Deal Expert
Feb 7, 2017
27765 posts
27802 upvotes
Eastern Ontario
Asker123 wrote: OK, that means, if I dont want to fix it like my long term proper fix right away (Old house, lots of other priorities) , I can throw away the rug, the paper cardboard and that tile strip and buy a new rug from HD and put that myself and call it a day? The rug is very precisely cut. I am sure this is DIY as previous owner was an engineer from 70s and used to do many other things DIY in the house. How does getting a precisely cut rug work for DIYers?

I can read through the hardwood flooring thread but that will require a lot of research it seems if I want to DIY that and very good chances of screwing up.

Can this just replacing the rug myself can be a cost effective solution to get rid of nasty dust smelling rug?
We were posting at the same time …

Yes based on what I see … if after you haul up the old rug / carpet and corrugated cardboard
You can get another piece of carpeting cut to fit the space *
And lay it down as a temporary (non dusty solution)

As you want to go cheap here … you can skip on proper underlay
And just look for a type of industrial carpet hard wearing product
(No nap … and extremely synthetic)

Carpet / Flooring Stores will prob be able to sell you quite cheaply an end of roll piece or an odd size remnant

* If you have your measurements … they may cut to fit in store
Or worse case … you have at it once you get home with a Carpet Knife etc

In a previous house we owned … we had old hardwood floor in our entranceway …
It did not look good … rough from the wear & tear of dirt & wet

Our intention was to eventually remove it there … and put in tile
In the interim … with 3 kids and a dog
We opted to just throw down this same sort of industrial carpet that I spoke of above
That would handle the high traffic … and the dirt / wet
All we had to do was vacuum
It worked well as a stop gap measure for a few years til we redid the flooring entirely on the main floor
Last edited by PointsHubby on Dec 12th, 2021 1:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Sep 27, 2006
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Not so easy there Ma…
Asker123 wrote: Its not a tile per se. we lifted it, it is very thin sheet of vinyl it seems..
Linoleum was installed exactly that way and that looks exactly like old linoleum I've seen. You used "tiles in the description. Anyways, its going to contain asbestos.

Also, any vinyl looking original tiles in the home will contain asbestos.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Feb 20, 2015
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Southern Ontario
fergy wrote: That 9 inch "tile" I believe is linoleum and would most likely contain asbestos. Asbestos is contained in many things in older homes.
That's doubtful in a house built in the 70's. I'd say that's more of a risk in the pre-1960's era as the actual materials had asbestos in them and not just the adhesive, for trace elements of asbestos.

What is the smell? Asbestos doesn't have a smell, by the way. My House was built in the 50's but insulation was upgraded well before I bought the house. I have a linoleum floor and was told not to rip it out, to put another floor on top of it. Apparently it's a BIG MESS to rip out.

Is there is a basement underneath with a drop ceiling? If so I'd be looking to see what's underneath.
Deal Fanatic
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Dec 4, 2009
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HD has free carpet install, but I think there's a minimum spend ($500?). If you're not averse to spending that, that might be a no hassle option for you.
"I'm a bit upset. I've been grab by the back without any alert and lubrification"
Lucky
Deal Expert
Feb 7, 2017
27765 posts
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Eastern Ontario
Gibsons wrote: That's doubtful in a house built in the 70's. I'd say that's more of a risk in the pre-1960's era as the actual materials had asbestos in them and not just the adhesive, for trace elements of asbestos.

What is the smell? Asbestos doesn't have a smell, by the way. My House was built in the 50's but insulation was upgraded well before I bought the house. I have a linoleum floor and was told not to rip it out, to put another floor on top of it. Apparently it's a BIG MESS to rip out.

Is there is a basement underneath with a drop ceiling? If so I'd be looking to see what's underneath.
“Vinyl” types of flooring changed greatly over the years.
Thicker … and horrible glue back in the 50s & 60s
This is the stiff most likely to be asbestos prone

Thinner vinyl in the 70s
Culminating in what was ultimately known as cushion floor
Thinner = Easy to tear
Pattern tends to wear off with high traffic etc

It’s attraction was cheap
And relatively easy to install
Also more patterns & colours
Vs the stuff that was around in the 50s & 60s

Starting in the 80s & 90s
Vinyl was on its way out
Real tile was in
By the 2000s
People were in love with hardwood
And it began to be used all over the house
Including Kitchens & Bathrooms
Deal Addict
Jan 7, 2014
2722 posts
549 upvotes
Manitoba
Some more pics. I threw the dusty carpet out
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— — — — — — — — — — — —
The end came for me (for light roast coffee) when the tasting notes at a light roast shop in Portland said: "Hints of citrus, star anise & coffee" - Unknown on the internet
Jr. Member
Oct 18, 2021
149 posts
125 upvotes
It appears you have a water leak along that wall with the window. That's probably creating the smell you observed, your going to want to investigate and repair that before installing your new flooring.
Deal Addict
Jan 7, 2014
2722 posts
549 upvotes
Manitoba
A friend came over and he suggests that at one point in time , water might have entered through the old window (current windows are new) . He suggests that we should cut open the dry wall below the window and above the vent to check for mold and any other damage etc.
We are not that handy so not sure if we will be able to open the dry wall and then replace it properly.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
The end came for me (for light roast coffee) when the tasting notes at a light roast shop in Portland said: "Hints of citrus, star anise & coffee" - Unknown on the internet
Deal Addict
Sep 13, 2016
3606 posts
2409 upvotes
Mississauga
Asker123 wrote: A friend came over and he suggests that at one point in time , water might have entered through the old window (current windows are new) . He suggests that we should cut open the dry wall below the window and above the vent to check for mold and any other damage etc.
We are not that handy so not sure if we will be able to open the dry wall and then replace it properly.
As long as you do not have any leaks now, I wouldn't worry about the drywall. Even if there is a little mold, it is not a problem.
Deal Addict
Nov 17, 2004
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The old water stain aside, it looks pretty good.

The cheapest option (I would say) if you don’t want to leave the bare subfloor and you’re just using it for storage would be to get the cheapest one piece vinyl from HD or any other hardware store (maybe a flooring store would be even cheaper?) and lay that down on top and tape the corners.

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