Rowhome floor care and restoration in Baltimore City

The staircase, the basement, and what is under the carpet

A Baltimore rowhome is typically two rooms wide at most, so the staircase is narrow, frequently turns, and is usually the only route between floors. Two things follow from that. Stair runners and hallway carpet absorb a disproportionate share of the wear in these houses, and they are the most technically demanding part of the installation. Getting a roll of new flooring up to the second floor is a planning question we work out before the day, not on it.

The second constant is the basement. Most sit below street grade, and many were finished long after the house was built, without the waterproofing anyone would specify now. Water in these basements is usually found late, which is exactly the situation where the flooring, the pad beneath it and the bottom of the drywall all have to be addressed together rather than one at a time.

Worth knowing before you replace anything: in the older neighborhoods there is very often original pine or oak under the carpet. We would rather tell you that it is there, and what refinishing it would cost, than sell you a new floor to lay over the top of it.