Replace carpet to help allergies? Does it work?

[share88]

The allergist recommends that I rip out carpet (at least in bedroom). I have pretty severe allergies all year.

I was just wondering from those who have done it - does it really help?

Certainly carpet is nearing the end of its life anyway, so would not be a total waste if I chose to do this.

[The J]

Carpets can hold onto allergens. You're better off ripping them out and replacing them with laminate or hardwood.

[mawmawandlovingit]

My DD had severe allergies and per the doctors suggestion, we ripped out all the carpet and went with wood floors. It seemed to help her tremendously. I would vacuum several times a week and I was surprised at the amount of dust/dirt that collected into the carpet.

[share88]

Thanks for sharing your stories!

I tried searching for information online and some say that it makes no difference since the carpet traps the allergens and the only ones that bother you are airborne.

But this carpet is about due for replacment and I might just push that up a bit and see if it helps.

[Artemis Windsong]

I have two issues with bare floors - cold and noisy.

A friend who has multiple dogs put hardwood in all of her house, even the stairs. She said it's much easier to clean up.

[thyme4change]

Do you have a slab or a sub-floor?

If you have a slab you can pull up the carpet and live with concrete for a few months. Then you can see if it helps, and see if you like it. If so, you can finish the concrete or put down wood or tile or laminate. If you hate it, or it didn't help, you can throw down a new rug.

If you have a subfloor - well - I don't know anything about that.

[Tiny]

I personally dislike carpeting... but that's just me. I've got hardwood (original to the house) thru out my house - with tile bathroom and linoleum in the kitchen. Carpeting traps all sorts of stuff which I'm sure goes airborne everytime you vacuum or maybe even walk across it.
If you rip out your old carpeting yourself, your gonna be amazed at how much stuff gets kicked up, what's living under there (those old spills and stains in the padding) and how "dirty" a job it is - assuming the carpetting is more than 10 years old. I pulled up 25 year old carpeting out of the bedrooms of my Fixer Upper... I was prepared to burn the clothes I wore to do it and even wore a 'mask' so I didn't have to inhale so much stuff. It was the number one WORST day of fixing up my fixer upper. It was also the dirtiest. After hauling the last "roll of cut up rug" out to the trash I stripped in the back hall - stuffed my clothes into a trash bag and ran nekkid to the bathroom to take a shower.
You might want to prepare your kid for carpet removal day - it's gonna kick up all sorts of stuff. I would also suspect that bringing new carpet into the house might irrate your kid's lungs - carpetting (and padding) can off gas - you know "new carpet" smell - for quite awhile.
I'd think about what's under the carpet and padding (hardwood? Parkay? Concrete? Subfloor?) and work from there. I'd try living without carpeting for awhile and see how it goes... unless of course you have subfloor... then you'll have to plan to put down some new kind of floor... You may need to refinish an old hardwood floor or maybe just clean it well and put down a couple coats of polyurathane (or some other finish).

[Tiny]

I live with hardwood floors (no allergies - I just love the way they look - character and all, they are easy to clean, and I don't have to keep replacing them and I don't have to worry about the floor not "going" with whatever color/accessory I choose to decorate with...). Yes, they can be noise-y when you wear shoes in the house. Yes they can make a room feel colder in the winter. Yes, you will probably still put down throw rugs. Wear slippers. Purchase throw rugs you can put in the wash or "fashion ones" that you will happily use for a year or two and then discard when you change the decor of the room. Purchase "rug backing stuff" to keep the rugs from slipping (or becoming deadly!) and cut it to size.