Going Nuclear on Allergens…for a Healthier Home!

Well, we finally had to take a really drastic step…

Last week, I talked about all the chemicals and toxic compounds found in the household products most of us use every day. And that after several years of allergic symptoms, I figured out I was reacting to these commonplace cleaners and detergents. 

But I wasn’t completely in the clear. During this figuring-out process, I also realized I was also allergic to…our bedroom! 

Let me back up. We bought our one-story home with wall-to-wall carpeting. Our wood stove, and our main source of heating, is at one end of the house, in the living room. On the other end of the house is our bedroom. Very little heat from the woodstove reaches that part of the house. 

And as you likely know, an unheated room—especially in a very damp climate like the one we live in—is not a healthy one. The excess moisture in the air will gradually find its way into the fabric in the room. Especially the carpet.

All those years, I didn’t mind the temperature of our room—I like sleeping in a very cool environment. And the moist air was nice to sleep in too. But the damp, chilly air temperature was taking its toll.

Over the years, the carpet in our unheated bedroom was slowly accumulating some mold along the exterior walls. You couldn’t really see it, but the last couple of years, a very faint moldy odor was detectable coming off the carpeted floor.

Well, we’ve all heard the horror stories about “black mold”—but I was sure our problem wasn’t that extreme.

But still, you do not want mold of any kind around your sleeping area!

So once I realized eliminating all the chemicals in our house was solving only part of the problem, I knew we had to figure out what to do about our bedroom. 

It was drastic, but John and I reached the same conclusion: 

First, get rid of the carpet.

Second, replace it with wood flooring. 

Given my allergies, the wood flooring couldn’t be finished. That is, we couldn’t use any surface treatment like stain or Varathane or any other coating to protect the wood. We decided to use raw, unfinished fir.

Here’s the thing: John and I are not big on home improvements. All our energy for improving things goes into the garden and our other outdoor projects! 

That makes us great candidates for hiring out our home projects. Problem: we do not have the budget for hiring out those projects.

So it was going to be DIY all the way. 

I have helped with various peripheral tasks, hauling away sections of carpet and carpet pad, and moving all our stuff out of the room. But it’s pretty much been John’s show all the way: tearing out the carpet and carpet pad; crowbarring off the wall molding; choosing the flooring at the lumberyard and bringing it into the house. 

After that, he dedicated himself to watching all kinds of YouTube videos to learn how to lay flooring!

I can’t count the hours he’s spent on his knees, patiently fitting together the flooring and nailing it down, sanding the rough spots, and doing the other finish work.

It’s been a long and winding road of a process, but Whew! We’re finally, almost ready to move back into

our bedroom. The room badly needs new paint, but that will have to wait until the warm weather.

In the meantime, with that lovely raw wood floor, the bedroom smells of fresh air and the outdoors. 

It’s funny, that just like using baking soda and vinegar for cleaning, the more you can bring Mother Nature into your house, the better your health!