Cleaning floors question, in two parts

[looseseal]

We have just one vacuum and lug it up and down the stairs. But, out stairs are carpeted, too, so if we were smart we would just vacuum our way up and down them.

Do you have pets? We bought a nice vacuum, but at the time we had two Huskies and then added a lab into the mix so we had so much pet hair it was a good investment. Also, 13 years later it still works awesome. If we were just dealing with non-pet vacuuming we probably wouldn't have spent as much.

[leon2]

I swiffer ALOT, but then once a week I will drag the vaccum downstairs and do hard floors, rugs etc.

I don't know how much this is but what about something smaller like this?
www.armstrong.com/flooring/vaccum-for-hardwood-floors.html

[Waffles]

We have 3 floors and one hoover we lug up & down the stairs. It's a purple dyson (whatever specialty that's supposed to have) and works great on all our surfaces. I have no idea what it costs though, we've had it for years.

All our floors are wooden, except the staircase itself (carpet) and the floor of our main living area is just as you describe yours. We actually got fed up with it as things will still go down the cracks and H is busy laying new wooden floor as I speak but the dyson does the best job possible in the circumstances.

[MrsStark]

Question the first: We have three levels (its really three half levels, like one floor, six stairs, second floor, six stairs, third floor), wall to wall carpet on the first level, area rugs on the other two and we lug the carpet vacuum up and down. If I had a spiral staircase, I'd say eff this and buy another one.

Question the second: I had...weird, deeply textured linoleum floors in my kitchen. And I could. not. get. them. clean. no. matter. what. My solution? New floors! Your floors sound way cooler than weird linoleum (your whole home sounds a lot cooler than mine. do you have exposed brick?) so I am zero help.

[iamgrace]

1- one vacuum ( we have central).

2- dunno.

Super helpful!

[janiejones]

We keep our vac in the basement so yeah we bring it upstairs to use.

[stephlove]

I lug. That being said... our upstairs may be due for a vacuuming. I don't even remember the last time I took it up there.

[papie]

Other than one area rug in the living room, the only carpet in my house is in both sets of stairs.  So yeah, we lug/vacuum up and down.  I leave it on the floor where I finish.  By "I" and "we", I really mean the cleaning lady. 

We use the same vacuum on our old-ish (60yo) wood floors.  We have  Miele yellowstar and it is really nice, but around $600. 

[papie]

Apr 3, 2013 8:30:04 GMT -5 kevin arnold said:

Apr 3, 2013 8:16:23 GMT -5 papie said:

Other than one area rug in the living room, the only carpet in my house is in both sets of stairs.  So yeah, we lug/vacuum up and down.  I leave it on the floor where I finish.  By "I" and "we", I really mean the cleaning lady. 

We use the same vacuum on our old-ish (60yo) wood floors.  We have  Miele yellowstar and it is really nice, but around $600. 

I was hoping I could get away with spending far less than that.

I know, I know.  But this vacuum is still like brand new after 5 years.  My cheapie ones always died after 2-3 years. 

[thinkofthesoldiers]

We use one for all levels. I always vacuum everything when I do it, unless it is the kitchen, so I keep the vac close to that room to make it easier. I will start on one level, work up the stairs, and then do the next level. I have had floors like you are describing in your kitchen, and I just used the flat surface tool (so no beaterhead) and the crevice tool for around the edges.

[VeryViolet]

I would definitely get two vacuums rather than lugging a big one up and down a spiral staircase. I cannot attest to this product but my friend has this (http://dirtdevil.com/products/details/bd20040red/extreme-power-14-4-volt-stick-vac/) for her wood floors and loves it. It definitely wouldn't break the bank either and you could still use what you have for the rugs.

[daisybuchannan]

Lug it up and down, but let's be honest, it's not that often lol.

I got one for my wedding, I think it's a Hoover and it works well. Can't remember how much $.

My house is 70 years old w original hardwoods, so I feel you on that.

[thinkofthesoldiers]

Apr 3, 2013 8:30:04 GMT -5 kevin arnold said:

Apr 3, 2013 8:16:23 GMT -5 papie said:

Other than one area rug in the living room, the only carpet in my house is in both sets of stairs.  So yeah, we lug/vacuum up and down.  I leave it on the floor where I finish.  By "I" and "we", I really mean the cleaning lady. 

We use the same vacuum on our old-ish (60yo) wood floors.  We have  Miele yellowstar and it is really nice, but around $600. 

I was hoping I could get away with spending far less than that.

Try going to a specialty vacuum store. You will be surprised what stuff is available and how little some of it costs. Going to Target/Sear/whatever limits your choices. You could find that you really like Oreck over Dyson or Kemore over Hoover.

[Deleted]

I love converted lofts. My parents went through a loft buying phase, so my brothers and I have all lived in one at some point. The one my brother was in had a similar spiral metal staircase. I was always afraid of falling down it.
Anyways, the exposed brick is a nightmare for dust. I always found myself vacuuming up little tiny bits of brick dust.
I had an older Eureka (not an upright, but the kind with a hose and attachments) and it worked fine (and I could use the hose to actually vacuum the brick lol). And it was lighter weight. Could you make do with one of those little handhelds to do a quick job twice a week and then haul the vacuum up once a month or so?

[fuckyourcouch]

we have 3 floors and a basement and i just lug it up and down. i also vacuum the stairs while i do this.

we have a dyson and love it, but yes they are expensive.

i will second TOTS' rec to go to a vaccum store. my grandfather owned one for probably 30 years and while he was an asshole he knew what he was talking about.

[Deleted]

I love converted lofts. My parents went through a loft buying phase, so my brothers and I have all lived in one at some point. The one my brother was in had a similar spiral metal staircase. I was always afraid of falling down it.
Anyways, the exposed brick is a nightmare for dust. I always found myself vacuuming up little tiny bits of brick dust.
I had an older Eureka (not an upright, but the kind with a hose and attachments) and it worked fine (and I could use the hose to actually vacuum the brick lol). And it was lighter weight. Could you make do with one of those little handhelds to do a quick job twice a week and then haul the vacuum up once a month or so?

[spazzz333]

Just a lurker sticking her nose in. I would get a small shop vac for your uneven wood floors those things will suck everything up, and with the long tube it would be similar to a regular vacuum. Besides they are one of those things you wish you had every once in a while.

[muffin0]

www.bissell.com/poweredge-pet-hard-floor-vacuum/ 

my parents have this and really like it.

[spazzz333]

Glad I helped.

[circa1978]

I like the shop vac idea, but if you are short on space, I have the Shark Navigator Pro, which is for both hard surfaces and carpet. It's super lightweight, so I use it on all three floors of our house and tend to just keep it in a closet wherever I left off. It's under $200 and they have it at Bed, Bath and Beyond, so it gets even cheaper if you have a 20 percent off coupon handy.

[pantsparty]

We have a Dyson ball, and used to have a Hoover. The Dyson is very light, and I don't mind bringing it downstairs at all. The Hoover was a PITA.

[Captain Serious]

1. We lug our vacuum, but I think the idea of having two for separate floors is genius!

2. We have floors exactly like you described in Vermont (1830s farmhouse). We have a Dyson in NJ, and although it's a good vaccum, it's heavy, cumbersome, and I didn't want to spend that kind of money for the ski house. We bought a Bissell designed for reducing pet hair, similar to this one, and it does a great job on the floors: www.bissell.com/pet-hair-eraser-vacuum/.

[azurely]

We have two, but one is my college cheapie and the other is a Dyson. My H lugs the Dyson up and down the stairs for major cleaning, otherwise we just use the cheap one on the main level in between.