I looked at a house for sale the other day, and most of the rooms had
hardwood floors, but more than half of the floors were black, sort of
striped, with wood color and maybe grain in adjacent stripes.

I think the finish was damaged by the padding or the backiing of
whatever wall-to-wall carpet they had had.

Do you know anything about this, what padding would do this and what
wouldn't?

A friend told me they took the carpet off of the floors in the house
they bought, at least 30 years old, and the hardwood floors were nice
underneath. What's the difference
-----------
The house also had a washer and dryer installed in the pretty large
room next to the kitchen. But in the basement was an earlier place
for the machines. It's likely the owners got too old to go
downstairs. Half of the house, the half with the kitchen and spare
room, is built on a slab. I suppose to bring water to the washing
machine they went up into the attic, but what would somone do if it
was an apartment building with no access on the floor above and a slab
below? Is there some way to go down through the slab from the
kitchen, across and up into the other room? Seems impossible to me,
other than by jacking up the house and cutting a groove in the slab.

On Monday, April 18, 2016 at 8:36:45 PM UTC-4, Micky wrote:
I looked at a house for sale the other day, and most of the rooms had
hardwood floors, but more than half of the floors were black, sort of
striped, with wood color and maybe grain in adjacent stripes.

I think the finish was damaged by the padding or the backiing of
whatever wall-to-wall carpet they had had.

Do you know anything about this, what padding would do this and what
wouldn't?

A friend told me they took the carpet off of the floors in the house
they bought, at least 30 years old, and the hardwood floors were nice
underneath. What's the difference
-----------

I've never heard of any carpet padding doing this and can't imagine
how it could. Also, if padding did it, why would it be in stripes?
If it was really striped, maybe someone did it intentionally.




The house also had a washer and dryer installed in the pretty large
room next to the kitchen. But in the basement was an earlier place
for the machines. It's likely the owners got too old to go
downstairs. Half of the house, the half with the kitchen and spare
room, is built on a slab. I suppose to bring water to the washing
machine they went up into the attic, but what would somone do if it
was an apartment building with no access on the floor above and a slab
below? Is there some way to go down through the slab from the
kitchen, across and up into the other room? Seems impossible to me,
other than by jacking up the house and cutting a groove in the slab.

Perhaps the room was added on with the intention of putting the washer
there and the plumbing was done the normal way, before the concrete
slab was poured.

On 4/19/2016 8:39 AM, trader_4 wrote:
On Monday, April 18, 2016 at 8:36:45 PM UTC-4, Micky wrote:
I looked at a house for sale the other day, and most of the rooms had
hardwood floors, but more than half of the floors were black, sort of
striped, with wood color and maybe grain in adjacent stripes.

I think the finish was damaged by the padding or the backiing of
whatever wall-to-wall carpet they had had.

Do you know anything about this, what padding would do this and what
wouldn't?

A friend told me they took the carpet off of the floors in the house
they bought, at least 30 years old, and the hardwood floors were nice
underneath. What's the difference
-----------

I've never heard of any carpet padding doing this and can't imagine
how it could. Also, if padding did it, why would it be in stripes?
If it was really striped, maybe someone did it intentionally.




The house also had a washer and dryer installed in the pretty large
room next to the kitchen. But in the basement was an earlier place
for the machines. It's likely the owners got too old to go
downstairs. Half of the house, the half with the kitchen and spare
room, is built on a slab. I suppose to bring water to the washing
machine they went up into the attic, but what would somone do if it
was an apartment building with no access on the floor above and a slab
below? Is there some way to go down through the slab from the
kitchen, across and up into the other room? Seems impossible to me,
other than by jacking up the house and cutting a groove in the slab.

Perhaps the room was added on with the intention of putting the washer
there and the plumbing was done the normal way, before the concrete
slab was poured.


I had a foam backing on one of mine that degraded and stuck to the vinyl
floor beneath. I re-carpeted but had a heck of a time removing the
degraded foam.

On 04/18/2016 7:36 PM, Micky wrote:
I looked at a house for sale the other day, and most of the rooms had
hardwood floors, but more than half of the floors were black, sort of
striped, with wood color and maybe grain in adjacent stripes.

I think the finish was damaged by the padding or the backiing of
whatever wall-to-wall carpet they had had.
....

If, as another has said, the pattern is regular and striped it's likely
it's "a feature", not a defect. Are they solid floors? If so, make bid
contingent on refinishing if don't like; either discount enough to have
them done or ask the owners to do it--all they can do is say no.

The house also had a washer and dryer installed in the pretty large
room next to the kitchen. But in the basement was an earlier place
for the machines. It's likely the owners got too old to go
downstairs. Half of the house, the half with the kitchen and spare
room, is built on a slab. I suppose to bring water to the washing
machine they went up into the attic, ...
... Is there some way to go down through the slab from the
kitchen, across and up into the other room? Seems impossible to me,
other than by jacking up the house and cutting a groove in the slab.

Who says they necessarily went from the kitchen? May have run a side
branch from the house line underground. Or, as another also said, the
plumbing may have been laid first with the arrangement in mind from the
git-go, or perhaps this was an addition and not original to accommodate
the change in lifestyle you suggest? You'd have to ask or have an
inspection to know.

But, it's certainly possible to run plumbing a lot of places with some
difficulty -- $$ solves most problems.

--

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 09:13:53 -0400, Frank "frank wrote:

On 4/19/2016 8:39 AM, trader_4 wrote:
On Monday, April 18, 2016 at 8:36:45 PM UTC-4, Micky wrote:
I looked at a house for sale the other day, and most of the rooms had
hardwood floors, but more than half of the floors were black, sort of
striped, with wood color and maybe grain in adjacent stripes.

I think the finish was damaged by the padding or the backiing of
whatever wall-to-wall carpet they had had.

Do you know anything about this, what padding would do this and what
wouldn't?

A friend told me they took the carpet off of the floors in the house
they bought, at least 30 years old, and the hardwood floors were nice
underneath. What's the difference
-----------

I've never heard of any carpet padding doing this and can't imagine
how it could. Also, if padding did it, why would it be in stripes?
If it was really striped, maybe someone did it intentionally.

Sort of striped, but I should have said that they were raggedy
stripes, constantly varying width with no pattern. Probably some
non-black parts in the middle of the black stripes. But no black
parts in the raggedy stripes with normal color, which I think
coincided with the border between the ~2" wide boards.

These rooms were above the basement, but still maybe something seeped
up between the boards to keep the area near the borders brown? That's
hard to believe.



The house also had a washer and dryer installed in the pretty large
room next to the kitchen. But in the basement was an earlier place
for the machines. It's likely the owners got too old to go
downstairs. Half of the house, the half with the kitchen and spare
room, is built on a slab. I suppose to bring water to the washing
machine they went up into the attic, but what would somone do if it
was an apartment building with no access on the floor above and a slab
below? Is there some way to go down through the slab from the
kitchen, across and up into the other room? Seems impossible to me,
other than by jacking up the house and cutting a groove in the slab.

Perhaps the room was added on with the intention of putting the washer
there and the plumbing was done the normal way, before the concrete
slab was poured.

Either that or they went up through the attic.

I had a foam backing on one of mine that degraded and stuck to the vinyl
floor beneath. I re-carpeted but had a heck of a time removing the
degraded foam.

Good to know. I'll try avoid foam.

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 09:30:42 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 04/18/2016 7:36 PM, Micky wrote:
I looked at a house for sale the other day, and most of the rooms had
hardwood floors, but more than half of the floors were black, sort of
striped, with wood color and maybe grain in adjacent stripes.

I think the finish was damaged by the padding or the backiing of
whatever wall-to-wall carpet they had had.
...

If, as another has said, the pattern is regular and striped it's likely
it's "a feature", not a defect.

No, it looks terrible. Raggedy, sort of striped.

Are they solid floors? If so, make bid
contingent on refinishing if don't like; either discount enough to have
them done or ask the owners to do it--all they can do is say no.

It was an auction and it sold for 240K, even though it needs lots of
remodeling. The home repair contractor who was there estimated it
needed 100K of that. I talked to a friend whose house is closer
to the center of action of this n'hood, and is about the same side
(bigger basement, half of it finished, and smaller upstairs) and he
said his house was valued at the same price, and it didnt' need
remodeling. He should have been happy to think his house might be
worth another 100K but he didn't seem to be. Maybe he's more
concerned about property taxes than selling.

The house also had a washer and dryer installed in the pretty large
room next to the kitchen. But in the basement was an earlier place
for the machines. It's likely the owners got too old to go
downstairs. Half of the house, the half with the kitchen and spare
room, is built on a slab. I suppose to bring water to the washing
machine they went up into the attic, ...
... Is there some way to go down through the slab from the
kitchen, across and up into the other room? Seems impossible to me,
other than by jacking up the house and cutting a groove in the slab.

Who says they necessarily went from the kitchen? May have run a side
branch from the house line underground. Or, as another also said, the
plumbing may have been laid first with the arrangement in mind from the
git-go, or perhaps this was an addition and not original to accommodate
the change in lifestyle you suggest? You'd have to ask or have an
inspection to know.

But, it's certainly possible to run plumbing a lot of places with some
difficulty -- $$ solves most problems.

LOL

water and espically urine will turn nice hardwood black, but theres a bleaching process to lighten it back up. i dont know much more than that. my mom bought a home, when i pulled the carpet up there was a large black mark.

the owners daughter said thats where she fell, and laid for 5 days, nearly died. thats why she sold the home

the black area didnt matter, mom wanted carpet.

after mom died i disclosed the mark at home sale time

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 12:18:03 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

water and espically urine will turn nice hardwood black, but theres a bleaching process to lighten it back up. i dont know much more than that. my mom bought a home, when i pulled the carpet up there was a large black mark.


Wood bleach?

On Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at 3:39:42 PM UTC-4, Oren wrote:
On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 12:18:03 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

water and espically urine will turn nice hardwood black, but theres a bleaching process to lighten it back up. i dont know much more than that. my mom bought a home, when i pulled the carpet up there was a large black mark.


Wood bleach?

not sure had a contractor there who said he did floors too, and reported it could be bleached out....

he was quoting a new tile floor at the time

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 12:18:03 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

water and espically urine will turn nice hardwood black, but theres a bleaching process to lighten it back up. i dont know much more than that. my mom bought a home, when i pulled the carpet up there was a large black mark.

the owners daughter said thats where she fell, and laid for 5 days, nearly died. thats why she sold the home

the black area didnt matter, mom wanted carpet.

Your mother has the right attitude.

after mom died i disclosed the mark at home sale time

Very good.

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 14:02:03 -0400, Micky
wrote:

These rooms were above the basement, but still maybe something seeped
up between the boards to keep the area near the borders brown? That's
hard to believe.


That's what linoleum is for. Cover up the bad looking wood. Or
carpetting, or some form of wood plank or parkay tiles.


The house also had a washer and dryer installed in the pretty large
room next to the kitchen. But in the basement was an earlier place

I'd put the washer/dryer back in the basement, as long as there is one.

for the machines. It's likely the owners got too old to go
downstairs. Half of the house, the half with the kitchen and spare
room, is built on a slab. I suppose to bring water to the washing
machine they went up into the attic, but what would somone do if it
was an apartment building with no access on the floor above and a slab
below? Is there some way to go down through the slab from the
kitchen, across and up into the other room? Seems impossible to me,
other than by jacking up the house and cutting a groove in the slab.

You dont need to jack up the house. But you would have to bust out some
concrete. (A big and costly job, best left to the professionals). Better
to relocate the washer....

Perhaps the room was added on with the intention of putting the washer
there and the plumbing was done the normal way, before the concrete
slab was poured.

Either that or they went up through the attic.

You cant run the drain line thru the attic, unless you install some sort
of pump.

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 22:58:01 -0400, wrote:


Either that or they went up through the attic.

You cant run the drain line thru the attic, unless you install some sort
of pump.

Good point. My neighbor needed a basement toilet and it was an extra
1000 dollars, but it included a toilet too!

Maybe one could just drill a hole in the concrete, suck out some of
the dirt, and let the wash water go into the hole.

On 2016-04-20 12:01 AM, Micky wrote:
On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 22:58:01 -0400, wrote:


Either that or they went up through the attic.

You cant run the drain line thru the attic, unless you install some sort
of pump.

Good point. My neighbor needed a basement toilet and it was an extra
1000 dollars, but it included a toilet too!

Maybe one could just drill a hole in the concrete, suck out some of
the dirt, and let the wash water go into the hole.

That must be the most stupid idea I have ever read on usenet, and that
is saying a lot.

--
Froz....

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

Oren wrote:
On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 12:18:03 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

water and espically urine will turn nice hardwood black, but theres a
bleaching process to lighten it back up. i dont know much more than
that. my mom bought a home, when i pulled the carpet up there was a large black mark.


Wood bleach?

I had dark spots from old foam. I used Oxiclean treatment.

Greg

On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 00:25:56 -0400, FrozenNorth
wrote:

On 2016-04-20 12:01 AM, Micky wrote:
On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 22:58:01 -0400, wrote:


Either that or they went up through the attic.

You cant run the drain line thru the attic, unless you install some sort
of pump.

Good point. My neighbor needed a basement toilet and it was an extra
1000 dollars, but it included a toilet too!

Maybe one could just drill a hole in the concrete, suck out some of
the dirt, and let the wash water go into the hole.

That must be the most stupid idea I have ever read on usenet, and that
is saying a lot.

Thank you. I was striving for that.

On Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at 4:24:25 PM UTC-4, bob haller wrote:
On Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at 3:39:42 PM UTC-4, Oren wrote:
On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 12:18:03 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

water and espically urine will turn nice hardwood black, but theres a bleaching process to lighten it back up. i dont know much more than that. my mom bought a home, when i pulled the carpet up there was a large black mark.


Wood bleach?

not sure had a contractor there who said he did floors too, and reported it could be bleached out....

he was quoting a new tile floor at the time

I think they bleach even new wood floors if the customer wants a light,
contemporary looking floor. How well that process would work to take
out dark stains on an existing floor, IDK. I guess that's what floor
finishing pros are for.

On Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at 11:58:44 PM UTC-4, wrote:


You cant run the drain line thru the attic, unless you install some sort
of pump.

Good point. IDK how that went for so long without someone pointing that out.

Micky wrote:
I looked at a house for sale the other day, and most of the rooms had
hardwood floors, but more than half of the floors were black, sort of
striped, with wood color and maybe grain in adjacent stripes.

I think the finish was damaged by the padding or the backiing of
whatever wall-to-wall carpet they had had.

Do you know anything about this, what padding would do this and what
wouldn't?

I've seem old carpet padding that had a ribbed surface in the rubbery padding.
Something like that could have caused the staining.

On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 00:01:54 -0400, Micky
wrote:

Maybe one could just drill a hole in the concrete, suck out some of
the dirt, and let the wash water go into the hole.

*NOT*

The water would not soak in fast enough, and would flood the floor, and
in no time the lint would prevent all draining.

On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 07:11:47 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

Micky wrote:
I looked at a house for sale the other day, and most of the rooms had
hardwood floors, but more than half of the floors were black, sort of
striped, with wood color and maybe grain in adjacent stripes.

I think the finish was damaged by the padding or the backiing of
whatever wall-to-wall carpet they had had.

Do you know anything about this, what padding would do this and what
wouldn't?

I've seem old carpet padding that had a ribbed surface in the rubbery padding.
Something like that could have caused the staining.

That sounds about right.

On Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at 3:04:10 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 00:01:54 -0400, Micky
wrote:

Maybe one could just drill a hole in the concrete, suck out some of
the dirt, and let the wash water go into the hole.

*NOT*

The water would not soak in fast enough, and would flood the floor, and
in no time the lint would prevent all draining.

Reminds me of the time many years ago when I bought a new construction
condo. The builder had installed a sump pump with a line that came out
underground and ended in the dirt. It was headed in the direction of
a swale and I think what likely happened is they just never continued
it another 50 ft to it's logical destination, maybe because they were
still grading, etc. So, being smarter than the average bear, I went
looking for where it discharged, couldn't find it, tested it with some
water, found out that the pipe just ended underground in the dirt.
And right next to it was the pipe from the adjacent unit, that also
ended in the dirt.

So, I report it to the condo association, since it's their issue and
they were sending someone out to fix it. And then I got a hold of my
neighbor, showed him the problem, told him that he should contact the
association too to make sure they fix his at the same time. He looks
in the hole in the ground and says "Isn't it supposed to be that way?"
I don't think he believed me that there was anything wrong and IDK if
his got fixed at the same time or not.