So basically...RIP old carpet. My husband's parents came over and helped us redo the flooring. They were amazing and we couldn't have done it as quickly as we did without them! We purchased a wood-style laminate called Tavern Oak from Lowe's, and some Killz odorless paint for the ceiling. The space looks and smells so much cleaner. I still can't believe we got this whole thing done in three days. We even added a baseboard, which the room didn't have on the concrete walls before.
In case anyone is interested, these are the things you need for a laminate flooring makeover:
- Laminate flooring (Tavern Oak was $0.85/sq ft)
- Laminate underlayment (to protect from moisture)
- Underlayment tape (to seal the underlayment edges)
- Shims (to allow space around the edge of the floor for expansion and contraction)
- Mallet
- Pull bar (this allows you to slide the planks together once the edges are locked)
- Circular or table saw (for cutting the boards cleanly)
- Trim for door thresholds (where the flooring changes between rooms)
- Jigsaw (for the odd edges that will be hidden)
- Measuring tape
- Pencil
First we had to remove the old carpet. We found linoleum tiles under that, so we took those off as well.
Once we had the flooring removed, we started rolling on some of the Killz paint, but considering how large the room is and how much paint we would need to cover both the floor and ceiling, we opted to just paint the ceiling tiles. We figured the smell was absorbed in the tiles (and the carpet), not the concrete. And we were right.
Painting the tiles not only helped with the smell, but it evened out the color too. From years of cigarette smoke, some of the tiles were yellowed. Now they look (and smell) nice and clean! My husband also swapped out the old light fixture for this new one which is more energy efficient. One thing we didn't realize though is that Killz is an oil based paint, meaning it doesn't come off easily like acrylic. It will get all in your hair, skin and clothes, so cover up if you don't want to be scraping off little dots of paint for days!
The next step is the put down the underlayment. This acts as a moisture barrier. We connected the strips with underlayment tape.
Use the pull bar and mallet to nudge the boards into place.
You want to make sure that the boards don't go all the way to the edge of the wall by using shims as spacers. The floor is going to naturally expand and contract a little depending on the temperature, and that gap will get covered up by your baseboards.
You also want to make sure that you cut your boards so the edges are staggered. I like this laminate because it gives the appearance of several pieces of wood on each board, but it would still look funny and repetitive if we didn't stagger them. Also, don't forget to consider what direction you want your boards to face before you start. If we would have gone lengthwise, the room would have looked even longer than it already is. It can create an illusion that really works for or against you, so don't forget to consider that!
Here's a closeup of the laminate we chose. It's called Tavern Oak and you can get it from Lowe's. It has a really nice subtle warmth and variation in texture that makes the room feel really cozy. It's also a great price at $0.85/sqft.
When we needed to fit a piece underneath a door frame, we used the jigsaw to make a custom cut.
For the final touch, we added baseboards around the entire room. We were able to nail in about half of them, but the other half of the room is concrete so we had to use Locktite to glue them on. Some extra bricks we had were great for holding them until they were dry.
Before...
...and after!
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