Sunken Living Carpet

Got a wild hair and decided to tear out the carpet in the sunken part of the living room.  I'd sold the dumpy couch I had down there this weekend.  Realized I don't like the divided look it creates, and never used it.  Once it was gone I decided to go ahead and pull the carpet out.  Part of the reason is that I need to determine if there are any water issues with that lower part before putting anything else back in there, so better to live with it out for a while to find out.

Here it is with the carpet pulled out.

The nails that were holding the carpet edging in were in the concrete pretty good.  Pulling them out made a little bit of a mess of the concrete.  Nothing serious, just some cosmetic issues.  I was surprised to find the concrete painted down there.  I wonder if that was the original look or not.

Here it is cleaned up a little with some temporary furniture in place to make it usable.

It does appear that the moisture is wicking through the masonry at the base of the fireplace.  I've sealed the top of the chimney, but I think that the masonry goes all the way to the ground on the back of the house is allowing the water to soak up a little.  It's not a significant amount, not enough to feel wet, but it's clear the carpet tacking against the fireplace had been damp, as some of the nails had rusted.