Vent: A stair runner job in Westview went sideways when the old padding disintegrated

I was tackling a set of stairs in a Westview split-level, and the moment I pulled up the old carpet, the padding just turned to dust. It was that cheap foam stuff from the 80s, and it left a fine powder all over the treads. I had to stop, vacuum everything twice, and lay down a whole new roll of 8-pound rebond before I could even think about the runner. Anyone have a trick for dealing with that kind of mess without losing half a day?

3 comments

3 Comments

evan_anderson1mo ago

Rowan brings up a good point about the rubber mesh, but has anyone tried using a shop vac with a HEPA filter on that foam dust? I found that a regular vacuum just blows it around, and the HEPA catch makes a huge difference in not tracking it all through the house afterward. Did you use a shop vac for the double vacuuming, or a standard house vac?

rowanj211mo ago

That 80s foam is the worst. I mean, I get the frustration, but I actually prefer when it crumbles like that. The old rubber mesh padding from the 70s is way harder to scrape off cleanly. At least the dust just vacuums up. I've spent hours with a scraper and adhesive remover on the rubber stuff, that's a real half-day killer. The powder is annoying, but it's a faster cleanup in the long run.

jamieh761mo ago

Totally agree about the rubber mesh. That stuff bonds to the floor like concrete. Give me the crumbly foam any day, even with the dust cloud. You can sweep the worst of it up in five minutes and be done.