It takes some collateral damage to prompt The Family to spring this project. For a very long time, they just dealt with the fact the floors was worn out: persistent stains, exposed tack strips, and weary vintage color. Though The Family knew the carpets were long overdue, the price tag was too astronomical to even consider it. A slip on the white porcelain tile that caused a broken elbow and a kid who keeps bleeding on the nail strips, safety trumps financial security. The Family picked out new floors and accepted an install bid.
The Floor Selection
The Family wanted a non-slip floor and ended up deciding on Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) for a wood look in the high traffic areas and most of the common areas. The Family Room was kept as carpet, to maintain a soft space that would also work well with movie acoustics. The LVP has a gray with a slight reddish brown tone that hides stains and was neutral enough to work with any furniture.
Much later, They decided to replace the baseboards to a taller profile that also matches the existing chair rail. This gave the walls a more complete look with colonial style from floor to ceiling.
Demolition
The Family decided the removal of tile seemed simple enough that Dad could do it himself. Before going to Farmington for Christmas, The Family prepped the house for Dad to tear out the tile and left for Farmington. Then five days earlier, Dad came home to work on the prep work.
Dad originally thought an air scrapper was the way to go, however, literally several tiles in, the Harbor Freight air scraper seized up. Dad could not afford any delays and so he did not want to try another air tool. He bought a rotary hammer drill. It worked pretty well. It scrapped up most of the thinset but yet glided right on top of the harder floor slab. If the tool was at the right angle, the hammer drill removed the tile perfectly. Dad stubbornly thought he could dispose of the tile debris on his own, but when his parents came to help… He couldn’t hide all the construction material. He bought a dumpster bag and paid Waste Management to haul it away in one fell swoop.
Five days in and Dad was confident he will finish. He wasn’t getting all the thinset off but the amount of work to scrap it further was going to take exponentially more time. The LVP installer will have to work with what Dad leaves behind. Unfortunately, dad’s demolition wasn’t unnoticed. When Mom came back home, her asthma would not allow the condition Dad left the house in. So for the next week, while the LVP was being installed, The Family lived out of a La Quinta. Son was very thrilled about our hotel room and still talks about the “room with the tiny TV” to this day.
The LVP Installaion
Well, the installers came in and almost immediately scoffed, “This will need some work!” They had to add one more day to work on the very rough floor. Lessons learned, LVP will show any imperfections. When the floor is said to require being flat. They meant flat and smooth. Also if you can, always move your appliances out before float work. If float isn’t poured wall to wall, there will be a slope change which may show up in your floor. Well, three days later, the installers assembled the floor, starting in one corner and worked plank by plank to the other.
Stay tuned, a weekend to move our furniture off the carpet, and the carpet installation is next!
P.S. The LVP was installed the week of January 5th, 2021.