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Short term slab flooring treatment

Cyndy
10 years ago

I am buying a house with foundation issues. There is 1000 ft2 of ugly 1980's white ceramic tile that is coming up before we move in. We will not be repairing the foundation right away (1-3 years probably). Eventually I would like to pour a concrete microtopping (to hide the repaired/beat up slab) and stain/seal it. This floor covers the entry, kitchen, and small sitting room. The rest of the house is wood.

My question is what to do in the meantime? I really don't want the bare slab for that long. I was going to paint with concrete floor paint and the rent a sander/buffer to remove it when the time came to refinish. Any thoughts on this??

Then I thought, why not stain it now, then in a few years, do the micro topping and restain. Thoughts on this? I think it would look more interesting...but could I buff/ sand/ grind the first stain/sealer up enough to have the micro topping stick??

Any advice for specific products / treatments to look at? Avoid?

I'm trying to plan out my steps so I don't even up with surprises down the line.

Comments (5)

  • glennsfc
    10 years ago

    You may need to have the tile removed and any remaining thinset removed by grinding with the appropriate diamond grinding media. That will give you a smooth and flat surface. Do not paint or seal; that will only lead to more work later. Shop for a loose lay sheet vinyl product that you can stand looking at for a few years and cover your floor with that. When the time comes, roll the product up and then do whatever you want with the slab.

  • live_wire_oak
    10 years ago

    If you don't fix the foundation now, you may have some pretty big cracks to fix when the time comes. And that goes for the walls as well as the floors. You're doing things backwards. Cosmetic issues like flooring take a back seat to your foundation and roof. Fix those first and live with the tile as is until you are in a position to do something with it later.

  • Cyndy
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    We will be renting the equipment and removing the tile/thinset ourselves ($150). We have three small children and want to get the ceramic/thinset out of the house before we move in. The dust/debris is such I don't want to live in it and do this at the same time.

    The foundation ($10k to repair) will be done n a year or two when we have saved the money. It's been cracked for years and we will assume the risk that nothing major is going to change in the next 1-2. We will obviously revisit this if we start to see changes.

    We are definitely saving the cosmetic stuff (kitchen remodel, final floor treatment) for after the foundation. We were going to put in a ceramic tile, but staining the concrete has an appealing look to me.

    I hadn't thought about vinyl... Will that work with no glue at all?? Or is there a glue out there that isn't so evil to get up??

  • glennsfc
    10 years ago

    The vinyl product installs without adhesive...it simply floats. There are also floating plastic laminate floors which are cheap, but could do what you want the floor to do for a few years. With the laminate option removal is as easy as taking out a loose layed vinyl floor.

  • TxMarti
    10 years ago

    I don't want to veer off in another direction, but would like to talk to you dovegirl. Could you click on my profile and email me?