There is lots to like about carpet: the warmth, the sound deadening, the colors/patterns, ease of replacement, etc. But here, hardwood flooring is an upgrade, so replacing the
20-year-old wall-to-wall carpeting with more w-t-w carpeting does not make financial sense.
And since my allergies seem to be increasingly hard to manage, understand that hardwood will be better for me. I intend to have a large bound rug in the living room, over the hardwood, and a small rug beside the bed.
I should have been clearer: I'm not going carpetless, just wall-to-wall-carpetless. ;-)
Interesting that you suffer from an increasing number of allergies. Err, this is going to sound rude, but it's not meant to be, I thought it was predominantly youngsters who were suffering, because we live in an increasingly sterile environment, and they don't have the benefit of having lived an unmollycodled life to develop immunitiy to such things. Certainly there seems to be a school of thought that thinks kids today don't get exposed enough to dirt and germs, witnessed in the steady rise of asthma within the population
There are times, with our now 6 mogs, when that seems a very attractive proposition......
But I am not the designated cleaner in this house. The vacuum and dusters and all are the property of my DH who is the official housekeeper. I shop, cook, do laundry, manage money and bills, and manage rentals. Plus handle any legal stuff. When I say shop, I mean that I buy everything except his shoes. He cleans and takes out the trash. I even keep his mother's room in the nursing home supplied with fresh flowers. We have a "division of labor."
If you have any allergies, hardwood (or tile, vinyl, etc.) is much better. I don't think it can be beat for sewing, cooking, anything where small items may be dropped and need to be retrieved.
Yes, I have rugs in the living and dining room. Not wall-to-wall, but bound rugs. I got them from Macy's, which surprisingly had the best selection and best prices. The downside was that I looked at rugs until my eyes crossed. For the bedroom and kitchen, I use small, washable rugs. Cotton rag, I think, but I'm not sure of the fabric content.
DH's and my arrangement was similar. He did all the car repair and maintenance, shopped for groceries, did the occasional load of laundry, and most of the outside upkeep. We shared child care. I did most of the cooking, all the sewing, all the painting, and as little as possible of the cleaning and vacuuming. It's a great shock to the system when it suddenly *all* becomes one's sole responsibility! :-}
That is what I was told when my younger DD developed allergies. Mostly she had severe food allergies, but tested positive for some pollens and dust, too. We replaced her windowcoverings with pull down shades, and I vacuumed her room (which was carpeted) more often then the rest of the house.
I never had any allergies at all (except for a drug reaction) until I was 60+. Then, one spring about 8 years ago, I was suddenly doing these EXPLOSIVE sneezes, had runny nose, red and itchy eyes, etc. It was not a cold, my doc prescribed Allegra and I was better immediately. However, each spring and lately now often in the fall, I get those symptoms again. I'm fortunate that the Rx keeps it mostly under control. I suspect that many of the introduced landscaping plants are causing allergies in large swaths of the adult population.
My DD was a preemie. She developed an intolerance for cow's milk formula at about 6 months, and we had to put her on soy-substitute. She did fine, and later we slowly re-introduced cow's milk.
When she was about four, she was out with my Dad one day, and when he brought her home her nose was bright red, she had tiny red spots all over her body, and she began to have difficulty breathing. We rushed her to the ER where they gave her in injection of epinephrine. We subsequently learned that she had an allergy to certain food additives (Dad had treated her to blackberry ripple ice cream and something in it set her off), so we had to carefully monitor what she ate. Oddly, she is allergic to almost all nuts but can eat almonds and peanuts just fine. As an adult she is lactose intolerant and avoids all cow's milk products.
"mogs"? I am guessing dogs. I have a lovely Shih Tzu who has begun to age not-so-gracefully. The carpet suffers....
Just another shock added to all the others. You have more than survived, though.
I've often wondered why DH doesn't look after my car. Once every five years or so, he would put gas in it. When it was the only car we had. Now, he has a car of his own again. I got gas yesterday while I was out. DH does mow the lawn when he can't talk our handyperson into doing it for him. Handyman does the painting and fixing, of course. DH claims a hammer has too many moving parts and he can't find the battery compartment. He has it pretty good, doesn't he? Oh -- though he is the designated cleaner, he avoids the bathroom and kitchen except for the occasional sweep of the floor.
One is never allergic (or nearly never) on the first exposure. Any reaction then is mild. It's continued exposure that is dangerous. I used to tolerate penicillin just fine, until I got a staph infection and was given large doses, and it turned out to be the last straw. Broke out in a rash all over. So I don't take it anymore, though I might get one more use under medical supervision, which could actually be a lifesaver with some infections responding only to penicillin. If my throat closes, they could pop a trach in there right quick.
The other side of the coin is that sometimes exposure to small amounts can lead to immunity and toleration. That's the so-called "allergy shots" and I see that some advances are reported with peanut allergy.
This whole allergy business is odd. I wonder if it's an indication that we evolved on another planet and were "planted" here......... *donning tinfoil hat*
We have hardwood in all the rooms except the kitchen and our bedroom. They are wide board pine. I have a small oriental in my living room, we never even use the living room. The hardwoods could stand to be sanded but that's a no-no with my asthma.The dust is not the best thing for it.
As to Richards comment about allergies, there really isn't a hard and fast rule. Allergies develop from repeated exposure to the specific allergens that people are sensitive to. That's why many people don't show allergic reactions to medications they are allergic to on the first round of treatment. As you become more exposed the more likely you are to have reactions to more substances.
At this point in my life I'm likely to have an allergic reaction to any antibiotics just because I'm allergic to so many of them. I'm a doctor's nightmare.
Dusting and vacuuming is done by DH. I do scrubbing and cooking. We share most other indoor jobs. He's the outside person, grass and yard clean up.It all works out to our satisfaction. Juno
I've never questioned my ability to survive, it's just a test of character every one in a while. Today, DSIL came over to clear a bunch of the old kitchen cabinets out of my garage. I thought I would install them in the basement for additional storage, but decided it was never going to happen. While he was here, I took advantage of his good nature: the front eave trough has overflowed the last couple of times it rained really hard, but I'm loath to climb a ladder without someone here to call 911 in the event of a fall. So I put up the ladder, climbed up and cleared the leaves, and all was good. DSIL made a valiant effort to dissuade me, he offered to do it, but I have to continue doing as much for myself as I can, as long as I can.
DH was very good about looking after both our cars, mowing the lawns, and doing plumbing and electrical repair. I think we had a pretty fair division of labor. I urge everyone to learn at least the basics of home maintenance though. I'm glad I had learned where the shut-off for the outside faucets are, and how to turn off the gas, etc.
When I had my floors refinished, I moved to DD's house for several days. The crew put up plastic sheeting to contain as much of the dust as possible, and vacuumed very carefully before applying the Swedish oil coatings. Each coat had to dry for 24 hours, so the entire process took over a week. But it was worth it! ;-)
That is my understanding as well. Occasionally something will trigger a reaction the first time, DH was severely allergic to wasp venom, and it was not a cumulative thing, he almost died the first time he was stung, other things build up over time
I have rarely had to take an antibiotic, but I reacted badly to erythromycin (could not keep it down), so it's on my DO NOT ADMINISTER list. I also had a full blown allergic reaction to an arthritis drug with the very first dose, so I take a different one now.
Congratulations. It is so nice when a couple can come to an equitable division of labor.
I'm seriously looking at bamboo flooring through most of the house when we get around to renovating our house, with rugs for some rooms. DH is insisting on carpet in our bedroom.
We had hardwood flooring installed in almost all the house; we kept carpet in the bedrooms & living room/den and the tile in the kitchen & baths. We love it; so easy to keep clean and just gives the house a different look. I'm sure you you will like it as much as we do. Emily
I'm so sorry Emily, but I'm ROFL here -- if you have carpet in the bedrooms, living room and den, and tile in the kitchens and baths, where is the hardwood? In the dining room and the hall? Or do you live in a house with a library, ballroom, morning room, formal parlor, conservatory?
The hardwood is in the entrance hall, DS's office, my sewing room/office, the dining room, the "music" room(3rd bedroom), the laundry room and the other two hallways. I would have had it put in the living room/den and both bedrooms, as well, but DS objected. Since we are co-owners, I do allow him to have his way sometimes. Neither of us want rugs to cover any part of the flooring, it is beautiful (dark) Brazilian Cherry and easy to keep clean. Emily
First of all, I think it is really nice of you to consider your DS's requests. Secondly, thanks for not taking offense at my teasing but I couldn't help but think that you must have a lot more house than I and most people I know. Not that it would be a bad thing.
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