What Homeowners Find Under Carpet Stuns Internet: 'Why Would You Do That?'

9 hours ago 3

A video about homeowners who find "gorgeous" tiles hidden beneath the carpet of a bedroom has gone viral on TikTok.

The clip was posted by @sunsethousereno and has garnered 1.2 million views since it was shared on December 10, 2024.

A voice in the clip says: "Let's see what's under this carpet in our upstairs bedroom," as a man is shown making a cut in the carpet near a fireplace.

"So, we got a feeling that it's gonna be the original tiles, we hope," the voice says as a piece of the cut carpet is peeled back.

"Oh no, what's going on here?" the voice says, noting: "it looks like it's the original tiles but they've actually been painted over."

"Who would do that?...why would you do that?...that ugly cream color as well," the voice adds.

The viral post comes amid a rise in home renovation spending in the U.S., which has grown significantly over the last three years. According to a survey by Houzz, a home design website, the median spend on renovations rose by 60 percent between 2020 ($15,000) and 2023 ($24,000). While over half of U.S. homeowners undertook renovation projects in 2023, the figure marked a slight dip of two percentage points compared to the previous year.

'Absolutely Gutted'

The voice in the viral clip says: "I'm absolutely gutted but at least they're [the original tiles] still under there."

The video continues with the man cutting a square out of the carpet just in front of the fireplace. "As you can see, it's [the fire] been spitting on the carpet and it's quite dangerous. So, we wanted to cut this little bit off," the voice explains.

"We're gonna try and see if we can get this paint off," the voice says, before sighing at the sight of a cracked tile.

A hand is shown attempting to get the paint off using nail polish remover on a cloth and "that didn't really do much at all," the voice says.

The hand is later shown using a scraper to get the paint off, but the homeowners were "really scared" to ruin the tiles.

"Look at that gorgeous color under there," the voice says with a corner of the original green tile shown after some of the paint was removed with the scraper. "Thank God it's still there."

"We are gonna try to get all this paint off. Do you think we can do it?" the voice asks as the clip ends.

'Spectacular'

Viewers on TikTok were stunned by the colorful tiles hidden beneath the carpet in the viral video, with some suggesting using a paint stripper to remove the paint.

KK said: "Those green tiles are spectacular," and beanz363 wrote: "That green is sooooo pretty!"

Noddy said: "Omg that underlay is antique," and the original poster replied: "the full house is."

User @jazzkirby noted: "Paint stripper and fine wire wool, don't use a scraper it looks like your starting to scratch the green."

User @madamemidnight3 said: "There is a paint remover you leave on over night it comes with cover papers for it."

Jean Marie Weinberg agreed, noting: "You need to put a remover on it and soak it for a minute, don't scrape it dry."

Others were concerned over the carpet being so close to the fireplace.

"I'm shocked your using that fire with the carpet right up to it gonna burn your house down," said 6394554user, and the original poster replied: "That's why we have cut the carpet away."

Áine-Mhairi Nolan wrote: "Omg chimney sweep here that fire should not be used with the carpet that close that's terrifying 300mm minimum clearance to combustibles. so glad the carpets going."

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.