The flooring was snap together laminate flooring so it just soaked the water up like a sponge. See how the floor was starting to bubble up and buckle? I was actually tripping on it when I would walk around my office.
My first task was to rip up all the old flooring, however the problem was all the furniture in my office was way too big and bulky to move out, not to mention the fact that my craft table was fabricated inside the room so it won't even fit through the door. I had to "scoot" each item out of the way, rip up the flooring, put the item back into place and so on and so forth. It took me for-ev-er.
My previous flooring had no subfloor underneath it and at the time I just put down plastic over the concrete and then put the wood flooring directly on top. This time I decided to go with what they call DriCore 2' X 2' Subfloor Panels which basically contains a plastic "groove" side to it and a plywood side. The premise is you place the plastic side on the floor to allow for any condensation evaporation (should your basement leak) and then lay the flooring of your choice on top of the plywood side. All tiles interlock together. Below is a photo of the subfloor I used:
It was easy to install and I used a chunk of 2 X 4 board to place against the edge and hammer the tiles together. Once I had my subfloor down I installed my flooring. I was going to go with carpet stick down tiles but was nervous about keeping them clean considering it's a craft room. I ended up purchasing a product called Congoleum Carefree Floating Vinyl Plank in the shade Cottage Plank.
This tiling is made up of long strips of vinyl with adhesive on the underneath edges. The premise is that you set the tile in place, peel off the white paper, and then set the next tile directly on top of the tape edging. I loved this concept because it's what makes it floating. You are not sticking tiling to the floor but instead the tiling sticks to the adjacent tile. This is nice if you ever decide to change out your floor as you could essentially pick it up all in one sheet because it won't be stuck to the floor underneath. Also, because the tiles stick to each other there is no gaping like I have found over time with traditional vinyl stick tiling. I took a photo of a small leftover piece of the flooring so you can see how it fastens together.
It is very thick vinyl that can be cut with utility scissors if needed, however I ended up using a mitre saw to cut the pieces down to size as it was much easier for me. I then used scissors to cut the pieces next to the doorway that needed smaller, more precise cuts.
So what do I think about my new tiling? I LOVE IT! I highly recommend it. It was hands down the easiest flooring I've ever laid and it was super quick to install. The pieces were nice and thick and I've moved my heavy office furniture on it repeatedly and have not had a scratch yet. I love the rustic look of it and it even has texture to it. It looks like real wood and I think visitors to your home would think it's actual wood even though it's not.
Enough talking about it, I'm sure you want to see an after photo right?
I just could not be happier with how it turned out. Below is a close up photo of it. I was trying to capture the texture of it but was unable to with my lighting. As far as actual coloring of the tiling goes, the top photo is more true to color. The glare of my overhead fluorescent bulbs lightened the color in the photo below.
I will definitely be using this product in the future whether in my own home or future flip houses. I was just so impressed with how quick and easy it was to put down, the quality of the material, and the end results with the overall look and feel of my office. Maybe one day I will decide to finish my entire basement in this flooring...how fancy would that be?
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