The Vinyl Tile Horror

Thanksgiving 2018 Matt and I bought our first home!

 Our 4 year anniversary is in just a couple of days and within our years of marriage we have lived in an apartment and in a rental home. They were very nice places but I always felt deprived not being able to change anything in the space! I wanted to paint the walls, change the floors, I wanted a project! Well, when my dream finally became a reality when we purchased our 1957 home, I knew my most important project, well...after painting the walls, so, my second most important project was changing the flooring. Just in the living room alone, there were four different types of flooring! Four! Yes, it was my dream being that it was built in 1957 but unfortunately, it had gotten a makeover in the 70’s. And yes, I hate the 70’s. So being me, I started doing my research for “fun 1950’s flooring” and then my head went spinning!

A sailboat, a top hat, a champagne glass! I could have an entire art gallery of vinyl tile on my floor! As I excitedly showed Matt all the possible choices, he shook his head and said, “Would you please choose something simple?”. Fine. Back to the drawing board I go. In my searching, I found a lot of 1950’s vinyl tiles had these nice streaks in them. Oh, I really like that!

So next came, where in the world do I shop for streaked vinyl tile? After hours and hours of research, I finally found Congoleum earthen beige vinyl tile with streaks that was free from asbestos. Perfect! It took me quite some time to find it because it’s hard to find streaked tile like they had in the 50’s without asbestos. The problem was that the one and only company supplying it had just a certain number of boxes left and it wasn’t being produced anymore. So, Matt got the measuring tape and started doing the math of our square footage because we all know I can’t do math to save my life. Bursting into excitement, they had just enough boxes to fill the exact square footage we needed plus 20 extra tiles. That meant they had to do it right the first time. Yea, well, that’s when you start hearing the DUN DUN DUNN...in the background. Matt and I packed up our bags to stay with my parents that live a half hour away for a three day floor project. 

Day 1 (of what is supposed to be 3): We get a call from the flooring guy explaining that the tile that they are pulling up from the 70’s is made of terracotta and is not coming up. Did I mention I hate the 70’s!? So, this now pushed us up to a week long project. 

Day 2: We realized we only packed enough clothes for three days, so we decided to check out the progress. HOLY SMOKES! We open the door and red powder came puffing out into our faces. As the smoke cleared, we couldn’t believe our eyes! It was as if a bomb went off in Sedona, Arizona. If you have never been to Sedona, it is known for it’s bright red rocks. We had painted our walls an aqua color prior, but looking at what we saw, you would have never known it. Moral of this story: please do not lay down terracotta tile for the sake of us that don’t like the 70’s and are going to tear it up. 😂

Day 3: We get a call from the flooring guy.... that sentence never starts out well. We have an add-on room that’s attached to our living room and we are making it into our tiki room. Well, here’s the first problem: it’s an add-on. And whoever built this add-on, somehow managed to build the floor as if the shape of a rainbow was growing up from underneath. Here’s the second problem: vinyl tile shows EVERYTHING!! But, with much confidence the flooring guy explained that they will level the floor and it will be no problem. Here’s a little spoiler for you: if I’m writing about it, there’s going to be problems. 

Day 6: Yes, I skipped through day 4 and 5. But, there’s nothing really exciting to talk about when you’re just waiting. Oh, and did I mention that we are living with my parents’ two Basset Hounds and a rescue Jack Russell? I love dogs, but when your house is in shambles and you have the Queen of the Pack that starts the annual Every Hour Howling Fest, you start going a little crazy. As if I wasn’t already. 

Day 7: Ah! It’s the last day of the flooring project! We get to move back home, see the beautiful project, what could be better!? LOTS, ACTUALLY! And like every good story, you can’t give away the ending too soon. So, I’m going to make “The Vinyl Tile Horror” a two part read! DUN DUN DUNN....