Four years ago we refaced the cabinets in the kitchen, removed the tile counters and replaced them with granite, and put in new appliances. And it was good... What we didn't do was replace one of the ugliest, off-white, more slippery than ice, ceramic tile floors in the world. Silly homeowners :(
Two years ago, we finally could not stand the look of the floor one more minute. (And, Margaret was tired of coming in from the patio with damp, bare feet, skating across the "more slippery than ice" tile and falling into a heap on the floor - fairly regularly!) With an eye towards economy, we decided to have a very attractive (we think) vinyl floor installed. And when the guys from the flooring store said "No problem laying it over the old tile", we were thrilled. No messy demo! And, for a while, it was good...
Until late that November when we heard a terrible cracking sound coming from the kitchen and found that a piece of tile had heaved under the vinyl, leaving a big bulge in the floor right in front of the stove. The flooring dealer/installer insisted that they were not responsible - "The tile underneath must have been laid poorly". They came out and peeled up a section of the vinyl, cleaned out the broken tiles, "leveled" (yeah, right!) the floor and reglued the vinyl. It was "okay", not good...
Fast forward almost exactly one year; the same sickening cracking sound came from our laundry room. The same ugly bulge appeared in the vinyl, this time in front of the washing machine. This was definitely not good!
Now it's several months later and we're ready to do it right; the vinyl AND the ugly white tile will be demoed. In their place? Soft to walk on, easily maintained tiles made from "green" cork. The only questions left are which pattern and color do we like and how soon will we get it done. We'll keep you posted!
Two years ago, we finally could not stand the look of the floor one more minute. (And, Margaret was tired of coming in from the patio with damp, bare feet, skating across the "more slippery than ice" tile and falling into a heap on the floor - fairly regularly!) With an eye towards economy, we decided to have a very attractive (we think) vinyl floor installed. And when the guys from the flooring store said "No problem laying it over the old tile", we were thrilled. No messy demo! And, for a while, it was good...
Until late that November when we heard a terrible cracking sound coming from the kitchen and found that a piece of tile had heaved under the vinyl, leaving a big bulge in the floor right in front of the stove. The flooring dealer/installer insisted that they were not responsible - "The tile underneath must have been laid poorly". They came out and peeled up a section of the vinyl, cleaned out the broken tiles, "leveled" (yeah, right!) the floor and reglued the vinyl. It was "okay", not good...
Fast forward almost exactly one year; the same sickening cracking sound came from our laundry room. The same ugly bulge appeared in the vinyl, this time in front of the washing machine. This was definitely not good!
Now it's several months later and we're ready to do it right; the vinyl AND the ugly white tile will be demoed. In their place? Soft to walk on, easily maintained tiles made from "green" cork. The only questions left are which pattern and color do we like and how soon will we get it done. We'll keep you posted!
.JPG)
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