IKIWISI

I'm transitioning from Hannah's house to the "new" house. This house is on a tight budget too, but not so much as Hannah's house.  Unlike Hannah's house, I have no plans to execute the painting.  However, I have to choose the paint colors.  I might as well be working to bring cold fusion to a marketable concept!

The good news is that I have sourced the flooring for the kitchen and the bathrooms. Having the floor will eliminate many of the color choices that I might want to consider--getting me that much closer to making a frickin decision.  So many colors!  So many possibilities.

I was hovering the "backroom" of my local Best Tile like a buzzard an eagle intent on its next meal.  I stopped and talked to a gentleman who was looking at some marble for his fireplace.  As I turned to re-inspect the center aisle of goods, I spotted the Wildland Canyon.  I had already missed it in the first two passes.

I didn't have my measurements with me (though I was 'sure' that I had them upon leaving the house).  I said !$@%@5% it, I'll get it anyway. It is regularly  $6.99/sqf tile, but with 81 sqf left in stock, they were offering it $2.99.  There was just enough square feet (within a mouse's whisker short) to be used in the kitchen. 

It is a porcelain tile, so the color goes all the way through.  It is textured, so it will not be slippery.  Yes, it will be hard underfoot, but the gel-mat people need to make a living too.  I'm really drawn to the earthen tones and the tactile look and feel of this tile.


The unfortunate thing about being highly intuitive (well there are many unfortunate things about it), is that you take "I know it when I see it" (IKIWISI) to a whole new level.  Seeing the Wildand Canyon was one of those instant IKIWISI moments.  It is a 12" x 18" tile, so I think that it will look good in the kitchen which has a much narrower floor than its length.

I was also drawn to this 12 x 24 tile. (Mora Medley in Creme)

I purchased this for the bathrooms, but it would look equally good in the kitchen.    No discount, on this, but given that the bathrooms need eye wow without budget pow, I elected to go with small sqf pow!  This tile looks super cool on the walls too.

The case for the basement.  Much space.  Much potential.  Here is the "great room" of the basement.  It truly is a great room.  Wood stove (needs some fixing).  Fire box.  Great brick chimney.  All the woodwork will be painted.  I will leave the brick alone. . .. for now.

At some point in time the basement had water casualty. I'm not sure exactly from what as I can see a number of contributory issues:  there was an upstairs plumbing leak, as well as some downstairs plumbing issues and a clogged outside drain.  There is a wall shared by the bathroom that has some major issues.  I'll let my contractors due the heavy lifting on that.  There was carpet down there as evidenced by (1) the roll of unremoved, badly stained carpet and (2) the carpet tack strips around the full perimeter of the room.  This is a 1300 sqf, fully finished basement.

I've received competent, professional, though conflicting, advice:  Paint the floors and let the new owners decide v. install floor covering.  The first advice was to keep costs down.  The second advice was from the realtor to resale.  My gut tells me that any person contemplating buying this house will only see the additional expense needed to cover the floor.  And, given the square footage, it is quite a bit of floor to cover.  The best thing to do is marry the best attributes of both tendered opinions:  scrounge up an inexpensive, attractive flooring option.

I went to my favorite flooring supplier, Wood Floors Plus.  They have a beautiful pre-finished engineered hickory.  I would LOVE to put that down in this space.  However, it has to be glued or stapled--and in the basement, it can only be glued.  That is not a DIY project, and it will be another $1.50 a sqf to install (my guess), and the glue is an expense as well.  To keep costs down, choosing a floor that we could competently put down (or sub out cost effectively) was the answer.

WFP had a premium laminate, Pergo Elegant Expressions, 10mm, in Buchanan Maple, at the very special closeout price of $1.59 per sqf. They had limited sqf, and I ordered about 1/2 their remaining stock.   It is a discontinued product, and the closest price comparison was $2.69 on special from FloorOne.com There are some other styles priced at $3.69.  All in all, I feel that I got a very good deal. 

It has pre-attached, 2mm, backing and requires an inexpensive 6mil vapor barrier.  This is a floor that we can easily lay.  It is a double plank, so it should be much speedier than the individual boards.  I think that it will make for a durable, beautiful floor.  It has a lifetime warranty,however, because I bought it at super-duper clearance, I don't get that.   I'm okay with that. After reading the warranty language of most flooring folks, I've concluded that there are enough loopholes to trip you up should something happen requiring a warranty claim.  I consider the shipping, almost free. It is about the cost of the sales tax, and it is delivered on a lift-gate truck.  I'll choose the paint once the flooring comes...I still need to narrow my choices.

I sourced a 50"  bathroom vanity at a very attractive price from Modern Bathroom. It is clearance priced at $899--that includes the mirror and marble top and free shipping (no faucet). It's a quick, beautiful and attractively priced fix for the downstairs bathroom. 

That poor cabinet was presumably chewed by a dog, and both the upstairs and downstairs vanities are far too low to be used comfortably. The upstairs vanity requires a new top (sink, etc).  A   I have to figure out what to do with the upstairs.  I may order a second one for the upstairs bathroom if the stock holds.  I'd like to see it first.  It appears that their products are highly rated, and an exceptional value.  I'll give feedback when this cabinet comes.