12 replies to this topic

[jaquie_farmer]

First I'd like to say sorry I haven't been on as much. My internet hasn't been hooked up yet so I'm only able to get on using my phone. Now then, my friend and I just moved into our own house. We're renting it together and so far it has gone well. Our hot water/gas won't be turned on until Wednesday, but other than that everything is great. I do have a few questions though. 1) we have brand new, THICK carpet throughout the house. Is there anything I can do to make it a little easier? I'm a quad so I have SUPER weak triceps and only grip in one hand. 2) the front door has a tiny, but too big lip on it. I currently can only get in if I stand and pull my chair over it or someone helps me. Obviously I could build a ramp but it's such a little thing I was wondering if there was another solution. Thanks in advance.

[LeahC]

Rip the carpet up? With the door, can you do a wheelie over it? xx

[ems]

hmmmmm.. other than a few years worth of track marks or more your going to leave.. honestly.. I;d get your landlord to put some hard flooring in!!!

Mind you after a few years.. going over the already worn parts will feel nice to roll on ;)

[edlee]

If you have what is called a High Rug Threshold, on your door, it is needed to allow the door to be high enough to not rub the carpet on the inside,,, maybe a hard rubber doormat,,, as thick as you can find,,, could be used outside, as a sort of ramp.

The new carpet,,,,,, I doubt the landlord will want to take it out,, so maybe you could think of the carpet rolling as some kind of physio training.
ed

[Hapahowlee]

Jacquie, do you think you can ask your landlord to install a "low-boy" threshold for your entrance door? I'm guessing your apartment has an outer door then a small lobby then your apartment door, right?

Sure would be nice if landlords could install Berber carpet or hardwood floors instead of that thick stuff. If the carpet is new, I doubt the landlord would take it out.

Hubby and I own our home and we had it built from the ground up. No steps at all, not even at the front entrance. We had all "low-boy" thresholds installed at all 5 doors that lead out of the house. We also have 18" X 18" tile throughout most of the house too. In the areas where we did want carpet, we had a special quilted padding placed underneath instead of the regular cheap foam that's usually installed. It gives hubby better traction, but in our next "new house" (a few years from now), we'll probably go without carpet.

Congratulations and good luck with everything in your new pad.

[longhaul]

edlee's idea about the hard rubber could work on the carpet also but it wouldn't have to be as thick. I think they sell carpet runners in rolls to put in high use areas so you could make trails where you need to go. Taking up carpet is a chore and if there is only bare wood under the carpet you would have to cover it.

Edited by longhaul, 27 April 2009 - 06:18 AM.

[Slowlegs]

And I thought this would be an invite to a house warming party!

[jaquie_farmer]

I'm pretty sure she said her best friend (who rented this house before her) put the new carpet in right before they moved. Sounds strange but I think that's what happened so she may not mind me asking about hardwood. Thing is I don't have a ton of money and although the house is a smaller sized house I'm sure it would be expensive. Speaking of how much does it usually cost? My dad could do the actual labor (he's done it for a living at one point) but around how much would it cost?the small living room and two bedrooms have the carpet.

As far as the door, no I can't wheelie. And there is no carpet in front of the door. There's linoleum in the foyer area.

[Hawkeye]

For pushing on carpet, 1 1/2" wide Soft Roll casters can help, but vinyl carpet runners may be your best low cost option.

I have a couple of doors, one in the house and another in the garage, that have door jams which are a little challenging. I bought some 1" entry ramps from www.spinlife.com They make life much easier and come in lots of different heights, so you can get one to fit almost perfectly. I have no issues with doing a small wheelie to hop over these door jams, but it can be hard to do if you have to hold the door at the same time.

Good Luck...

Joe

[jules]

You could also look at laminate wood flooring rather than hardwood flooring, it is a much cheaper alternative. My husband and I replaced all of our downstairs carpet with laminate flooring. We used the type that is recommended for high use areas so is extra tough. We laid it ourselves, it is very eeasy to lay. It took an evening to do the hallway, and a day each to do the other rooms.

Hope this helps

Jules

[BenjaminLucas]

jaquie_farmer, on Apr 27 2009, 09:44 AM, said:

I'm pretty sure she said her best friend (who rented this house before her) put the new carpet in right before they moved. Sounds strange but I think that's what happened so she may not mind me asking about hardwood. Thing is I don't have a ton of money and although the house is a smaller sized house I'm sure it would be expensive. Speaking of how much does it usually cost? My dad could do the actual labor (he's done it for a living at one point) but around how much would it cost?the small living room and two bedrooms have the carpet.

As far as the door, no I can't wheelie. And there is no carpet in front of the door. There's linoleum in the foyer area.

Jaquie. I have a lot of boxes left over from my house renovation. We saved it for someone that might need it. It's really good hardwood and we'd give it to you for free.

If anything you could carpet the small living room and the room you stay in. I think that will work.

If you're interested, PM me, and I can figure out how much we have and how much you need.

[edlee]

Odds are, that the new carpet was put down in order to get the security deposit back. As far as changing out thresholds goes,, can't change the threshold to a lower one without changing the door,,, otherwise you don't get a seal at the bottom.

The spinlife 1 inch ramps are what you need,,, the door mats are what you can afford ( if you are frugal, like me), and they give you something that people can wipe their feet on.

I just had a thought about the inside mat. You could use a thick throw rug,, three or four feet long. It would give you a bit of ramp effect,, and something that will dry your wheels off a little when you come in. Also washable, and easily changed when a different color is desired.

The runners suggested above might help get YOUR security deposit back, more easily, when the time comes to move.
Best of luck in your new digs.
ed

[Hapahowlee]

We were 1500 miles away when our home was being built, so there were a few items that right away caught our eye as far as not being done to our specs, but it was easily fixed.

The 2 doors that lead to the back patio had adjustable thresholds. Even though the contractor set the threshold down as low as it would go, it had to be taken out and a new, more flattened threshold was installed. To help with the seal on our french doors, they installed new sweeps that are actually a combination of a sweep and kick plate. We also had bomber hinges put on both doors so as soon as hubby goes out or comes in the door shuts behind him automatically.

We haven't had any problems with this setup and it's much easier for Mr. Hapa to get in/out. Since you have Linoleum on the floor of your foyer the type of threshold I referred to plus a different sweep would work for you.