Floors Galore!

I. Hate. Carpet.

There, I said it!

Once upon a time, I was inspired to buy a home that was built in 1963 and remodel it. Well, my contractor did the remodeling. The Lorelai to my Rory designed it. An incredible architect drew up the plans. I really just spent long hours in Home Depot trying to pick colors, flooring, and cabinet handles (remodeling when you're indecisive is a challenge... I spent a solid hour during each hour-long visit trying to pick cabinet handles).

All that said, I didn't do much to the back (except put a closet rack in a bedroom thus transforming it into a closet) and bring in a doorway to create more space in the kitchen.

The back part of my little home is an addition. Hand-crafted in 1975 by the owner of the home, it is strikingly different from the rest of the house. Underneath my wallpaper (which has grown on me) there is wood paneling (yikes!!). This brings us to the beginning of the story. The rest of the house had two layers of linoleum, a layer of tile, and a black subfloor underneath the carpet. God only knew what lurked under the carpet in the back.

An older home + 3 pets + carpet = the worst battle I've ever had with odor. Maddie is nearly 12. She can't control her need to go outside like she used to. My cats are young and have hairballs. I used cleaners, powders, scrubs, carpet shampoos, steam vacuums, regular vacuums, and everything under the sun to keep my carpet clean. It was also a little bit greasy (and it was from the very start). It was years of old carpet. I was sneezy and had to keep a candle going at all times to handle it.

So, I did a little research and starting ripping.

Day One
It all started on Monday. I reached out to my go-to in home design and asked her opinion on having a fifth flooring in my home (but do bathrooms really count?!). She gave me some advice and I went to Google.

Day Two
Every spare moment I had that day was dedicated to Pinterest. That place is dangerous. I fell in love with flooring that was clearly done by a professional and way outside my price range. I knew that I had somewhere around 500 square feet to cover, and I didn't want to spend $500 on the vinyl planks I used in the front bedrooms. I liked the idea of acid etching the floors, but I hated how limited the color options were. I was at a loss. I didn't want to pick a bright color that would scare off potential buyers when I eventually move, but I didn't want brown or tan. Those seemed like my only options.

Day Three
I kept researching and came up empty-handed.

Day Four
I started tearing out carpet. I didn't care that I didn't have a plan yet. I was just ready to have it gone.

Day Five
My carpet-induced rage continues. I consulted with creative minds over dinner in Memphis.

This is the dirt from what's pictured above, NOT the whole room

Work Day 1
Saturday is when we started the real work. We spent two hours moving everything out of my room (when did I get this much stuff?! [I sorted through it with the goal of reducing my belongings by 1/3. More on that later.]). Next, we ripped out all the carpet and went shopping. Home Depot had some good recommendations, but we went to Ace because we heard they had better acid stain selection. They didn't, but they were super helpful in picking a concrete stain I loved. We bought two gallons of Quikrete charcoal stain, one gallon of etching cleaner, one gallon of wet look sealer, and a plastic garden sprayer ($130 with tax).

When we got back, we pulled up the carpet spikes and all the nails. I highly recommend safety glasses and work gloves for this. Nails flying and splinters and hundreds of tiny spikes... safety first! I invested in a second pry bar, and it was the best $4 I spent the whole weekend. A friend let us borrow safety glasses!

Next, we swept and swept and swept. Debris kept coming. I measured somewhere between 3-4 cups of dirt.

We then poured the etching solution into the sprayer and got to work. As per the directions, we didn't dilute it. However, this meant we needed to wear rubber gloves, rubber boots, and masks. We did 5x5 sections at a time. I sprayed a coat of the solution, Chris scrubbed it with the push broom, we waited a minute, and then we rinsed it off (my garden hose is connected outside my room. I turned it on, let the hose fill up, then turned it off to get a light spray). We ran to pick up dinner while it dried (leaving the fans going and the French doors wide open).We used a shop vac on the smaller room, but it wasn't really necessary. It all dried very quickly. 

Once we got back, we applied the first coat of stain using a roller and a brush. Chris got the edges and I went behind him with the roller getting larger sections. We waited about an hour (until it was dry to the touch) and we did a second coat. I got a look that I liked, but I'd probably texture it with a sponge if I had to do it again.

First coat of stain coming along

It was late at that point, so we called it a night as we waited for it to dry the recommended 6 hours before the sealant.

The first coat

After the second coat

Work Day 2

The next morning, we applied the wet look sealer. It went on and looked like a blue-ish glue. It freaked me out initially, but it dried clear. We let it dry to see if we would need a second coat. It looked great after one coat (but we had plenty if we had wanted to do it). We left it alone for 24 hours (or at least I tried to. It was dry to the touch, so I put my mattress back in there to sleep Sunday night).

Oh my god, this won't stay blue-ish, right? Is it drying?!

I could barely move Monday morning and called in sick. My bosses totally understood and said to take it easy.

Monday night, we moved all my stuff back into my room (minus the stuff I'm donating).

The next step will be fixing the trim (I need to add quarter rounds and paint all the trim white [it's a weird beige right now]). After that, I need to work on flooring transitions. They're sad right now...

Moving back in

Another really important thing to consider is that a stain won't cover everything. My smaller room (which I use as a closet) had a ton of paint spills under the carpet. I got some of them up with the etching, but some of them didn't come up. The stain didn't cover it, but I think it looks cool and tells the story of the house. The entry to my main room has an un-touchable light brown stain on the concrete. It actually added depth to that part of the floor. I like seeing all the imperfections in the floor. 

Y'all... I'm obsessed with these floors. This is actually my third room in which I've revamped the floor. 

To recap step by step:
1. Buy your etching, stain, and sealer (garden sprayer if you don't have one) ($130)
2. Make sure you have rollers, brushes, and paint pans (I had some from other projects). Buy or borrow a roller extension ($3). Find or borrow rain boots. Buy or borrow an all plastic garden sprayer. Make sure everyone involved had a pry bar ($4)
3. Move everything out of the room(s)
4. Rip out the carpet. Do it in pieces that you can carry! It's so much easier to load up that way.
5. Pry up the carpet spikes. Wear protective eyewear and work gloves (We were just careful with out hands). Careful not to damage the baseboards!
6. Sweep like crazy
7. Gear up in gloves and boots. Spray etching solution in 5x5 ish blocks , scrub etching solution (push broom, $6). Wait a minute, rinse lightly
8. Let it dry
9. Apply concrete stain with a roller or brush or sponge or cloth
10. Let it dry
11. Apply a second coat if you wish
12. Let it dry for 6 hours
13. Apply sealer.
14. Let it dry for 24 hours.

IMPORTANT: read the temperature and humidity warnings. If it's below 50° or above 90°, you may not get the right results. Also, be sure it's not too humid outside or going to rain soon. Otherwise, you run the risk of it not working correctly.

Total cost breakdown

Etching: $20

Push broom: $6
Boots: already owned ($14 at Wal-Mart)
Gloves: borrowed ($2 at WM)
Sprayer: $12

Stain: $60
Roller: already owned ($7)
Extension: $3
Brush: already owned ($3)
Paint tray: already owned ($2)

Sealer: $25
Paint tray from stain
Roller from stain
New roll: $3

Total cost if I hadn't borrowed things: about $160. This covered 425 square feet, and I have enough supplies to probably do another 200 square feet or so. I would have saved $30 if I hadn't done a second coat of stain, but I wanted it darker, so it was worth it. I don't need another 200 sq feet done though, so I have extra supplies for touch ups if the need arises.

Bonus pic of the amazing man who helped me do all this work.