Short Stories

About

Monday, January 20, 2014

Tile on the Floor Part 2


IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP:

If you house was built before 1980, and you have a vinyl tile or sheet flooring, chances are it contains asbestos. Don't panic. The best thing to do, is leave it.

I suspected the bottom layer of sheet flooring in my home contained asbestos, because it was put down in the mid 70s.

Since the second layer of flooring is glued to it, I'm leaving both layers. I will install the concrete backer board for the tile on top of the old sheet flooring.

If you house is newer, and you take the old floor out down to the sub-floor, I would staple down a layer of plastic first, before your concrete backer board. It doesn't cost much and it ensures water will not reach the sub-floor. With water lines running to the refrigerator, dishwasher, and sink; it's a good idea. Use 4 mil plastic. It can be found at any home supply store.

This is where we left the floor in part 1.


Monday, January 6, 2014

Tile on the Floor Part 1

One of the first new projects of the year is tiling the floor in the kitchen. I previously tiled the walls, floor, and shower in the bathroom.

This is the new floor. A gray ceramic tile.


The kitchen floor was the ugliest floor in the house when we moved in. Somehow we've replaced all the floors but the kitchen, but no longer shall it intrude.

As you can see, the pattern is dated and the floor has faded.
The previous owners had generously replaced some, but not all of the faded tile.

There were three layers of resilient flooring. As I started removing the first layer, it didn't look too bad. It could be the basis for an awesome retro style.

Then I saw this...