underlay

I would like to meet the individual who first decided that the best way to lay carpeting was to glue and staple the underlay to a beautiful hardwood floor. That idea rapidly infiltrated mainstream society wherein the home owner in a post war economy thought that carpeting was better than natural hardwood such as maple or birch. These pre-boomer owner never had the germ of a concept that maybe the carpeting would become passe, harder to clean each day and would eventually wear out. They never thought that one day the carpet would need replacing. They never thought that the work involved in a carpet replacement would be their concern. "Leave it to the kids, or the new owner to deal with." This mantra must have echoed throughout the halls of baby-boom prefab house construction. The baby boomers were introduced to flooring that actually required carpeting, especially when the floors were simply ply-would and therefore had to be be covered. No one thought of renovating a house except new owners. AND hence the extraneous work load. Instead of fastening the carpet to the older floor with the staple boards at the edges, glue was used. Instead of a simple pull-up of carpet and underlay, followed by picking staples from the maple, then a good sanding, one now faces the daunting task of pulling said carpet, scraping the now glued underlay off the floor, stopping ever more frequently to pull staples and finally sanding the maple floor. The scraping also increases the spread of dust, mites, fungi, and more colourful language which would embarrass a stevedore. Oh well!... I rant, I scrape, and I re-do. I shall endure and before the end of time my floors will shine and no longer have any souvenirs of carpeting.
Oh, I also would like to meet the Einstein who decided to glue the underlay to the tiles which were glued to said hardwood. I am not fond of tile, unless it is ceramic. But the increase in work is going to cause me to increase my consumption of beverages from Belgium (particularly Stella) or the nearby vineyards.