Basement Floor (aka Fun with Stick Tiles!)

For a while there I thought I may actually have lost my project-addiction, killed off by textbooks and lack of weekends. So it came as an immense relief when I dragged myself down to the basement after work today, and 20 minutes later (despite the fact that I have a job interview early tomorrow morning) found myself doing this…

STICK TILES!

As you can see, the epoxy (maybe) paint on the floor was more than likely mis-applied by those same people who thought the best way to patch holes in the walls was to cover them with scotch tape and then paint over it, and so it isn’t holding up real well.

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As a general rule in my house (and in life) I am vehemently opposed to linoleum. A nice linoleum tile costs just about what a plain ceramic tile does and in the celebrity deathmatch of ceramic vs. linoleum I think it’s pretty obvious who would win.

However…

This is my work space. While I don’t want destroyed semi-epoxied concrete for a floor, I’m definitely going to do some damage to whatever is down there eventually, and at thirty-cents a square foot (and fairly easy to replace) stick tiles seemed like just the thing. They are probably more formally called self-adhesive tiles, but this is DIY people, I choose to do my own thing. Even with naming conventions.

Anyway. This is probably the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Clean the floor. Measure the tile placement. (again, you are supposed to start in the center of the floor and work outward in a step-like formation. And againDIY means I choose not to follow the rules when I don’t want to.

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This is obviously me, making sure the stick tile is evenly adhered to the floor. Notice the bright fricking red of my hands. I guess that I was pushing really hard. Also, try not to notice the 80’s headband. I just whacked a lot of my hair off and that’s the only way to keep it out of my face.

I noticed this picture on the box about 20 square feet in…

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And I stared at it a minute saying over and over again, really? a rolling pin. So I though, okay, what the hell, I look like a lobster from the wrists down, I’ll give it a shot. So I got a rolling pin from the kitchen and tried this for about 30 seconds, feeling like a complete moron all the while. And it didn’t even work that well, if at all.

So ha ha Armstrong stick tile direction writers, you got me. Rolling pin on the floor. Good joke.

When I finally got back to business I ended up with about 35 of 300 square feet that needs to be done down there.

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Infinitely better, no?

You know what I’ll be doing this weekend.

7 Responses

  1. I’ve got those lame stick tiles in my bathrooms and absolutely abhor it. But let’s face it, I’m just too busy (read: lazy) to rip them up and tile right now. It’s on the infinite to-do list.

    Will be applying my 3rd coat of KILLZ to the master bathroom wall this evening, most likely. Then it’s up to the GF to color match whatever whimsical idea she has for the paint scheme in there. It’s been a real bitch of a job, but I’ll be glad when it’s mostly done.

    DIY is certainly for stubborn people!

  2. I’m amused at the rolling pin. Ideally,go to your rental center and rent a 150 pound floor roller. That’s the only way to go.

  3. found your post via google – just wondering how these are holding up? I’m thinking of doing my basement with self-stick vinyl tiles. Our basement doesn’t flood, but is damp enough that our carpeting that we had got musty smelling, so that got ripped out and we’re looking to finish the floor another way. Thanks!

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