Back Story :
We didn't meet the required legal ceiling height. BUMMER. So we had to jackhammer the concrete & shovel out the dirt underneath. That sucked. A lot. And because we didn't want to spend a lot of money doing this, we did it ourselves, bit by bit.
Kinda like that :
We rented a U-haul truck to haul it to a dump - a concrete dump/brick/dirt dump - where you pay to dump it and where they re-sell it to be used as fillers and such. Everything had to be separated; Dirt from concrete. In different piles. In different locations. An added headache.
Not just did we have to load our U-haul but un-load it too! And because we were trying to save money by renting the truck for a limited time, we had to move fast! It was hardcore labour. We watched all these trucks next to us at the dump unloading their concrete by using a tilt-lift thingy - a button they pressed that unloaded it automatically. The kind of button you want when you don't have it. We manually had to shovel blocks of concrete off the truck. As trucks came & went, we kept shoveling. It sucked. I never sweated this much in my life. And the thought of having to do it all again - not just once but a couple more times, wasn't very motivating.
We ordered pallets of concrete from home depot.
Lay the rebar, and poured new concrete in patches. Uneven patches. And it took a loooong time.
[and may have cost us more in the end doing it ourselves than hiring professionals to do it in one clean sweep. oh well...].
| Jesse doing his thing. |
Anyways, we now have an uneven floor which is barely legal. Installing hardwood floors in the den was not an option; it's thickness would have raised the floor too much to be compliant with building codes. Well we could have dug deeper, but we were tired, and along the way decided that we really really wanted to do an epoxy resin flooring. Why? Because it rocks, oh and it's only about 1/2" thick max.
epoxy : waterproof, durable, anti-bacterial, stain & dust resistant, seamless & easy to clean.
What's not to love? We finally could have a floor that's white, and a glossy one too.
Here's the floor the night before after Alex scrubbed off all the paint 'droppings'.
It wasn't quite good enough so we had to sand it the next day before the epoxy guy came.
Floor after 1 coat of epoxy primer :Floor after 2 coats of epoxy primer :
We keep sneaking down the back to have another look. It's exciting to watch epoxy dry! By the way we didn't put drywall and cedar all the way down to the floor, because we don't want to use baseboards [no likey]. So we will add the missing pieces after the epoxy floor is complete, so we get a seamless/floating look and no baseboards! Yay!
| This photo only looks dirty, because the windows are. |
| Arson, wondering why we keep running down the | back stairs... |
So that was the primer. 2 coats only. More to come as we watch it dry & await more epoxy coming our way.
WE GOT MO' EPOXY TODAY!
| Riot checking out the new floor from patio. |
So so happy with our new floors. The light reflects so nicely. Now just adding some more coats to patches.
Will post more pics later...
BEFORE & AFTER-ISH
more pics..
more pics..
after watching the epoxy dry, we saw a lot of blotchiness, so the epoxy guy had to come back & do it again...
Looks much better now. Can't wait to paint the bottom of drywall - really liking the non-baseboard look.
...
11 comments:
Wohw,I like the floors,the sink,the bathroom,the cedar wall,the orange stairs,but most of all the courage of this couple.
Bravo,love Cora
I remember how it lookes and it is spacy now open and not to edgie.
MOM
Hallo lieve Cora! Dank je, leuk om te horen!!
Het wordt heel erg mooi...MOET OOK! - wij hebben hier lang en hard aan gewerkt! kusjes xoxo
@Mamma - bij "not to edgy" - bedoel je "not too confined"?
I'm stunned that you poured the floor yourself bag by bag... It must all seem worth it now that you have such a beautiful floor. Congrats.
I love epoxy floors. I'm dreaming of them for our next place. Killer sink BTW!
@ModFruGal,
It is! Although because we did it ourselves, the floor isn't very level at all, very noticeable actually. We also somehow assumed that the epoxy would cover all the little dings and scratches in the floor; We carelessly dropped tools etc. on the concrete. Well, epoxy doesn't cover these unless you pour A LOT of epoxy (as it's self-leveling).
But alas, now we appreciate these little flaws, it fits to the charm of an old home (1896). If it were a new home, these dings would definitely bother us. We're very happy with it! Cheers.
@ The Brick House
Thanks! I would suggest doing the epoxy as soon as the concrete is done - to get that super slick mirror finish look, without dents & dings.
Hi Love the floors cannot wait to come over and to sty at least a month.
Anynomous
Wow, I thought I was the obsessive about loathing baseboards! Bravo, love the whole look, and am stunned by your commitment - I can barely get the vacuum and swiffer out, let alone do a major renovation like this. Looks fabulous. And, love the terrier names!
Thank you!
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