Oh Yayyyy.  S’rite… yaayyy.

Ever get to that point where you think you’re close, and the light at the end of the tunnel gets nice and big — fat and round like the moon — and then reality hits you in the face and it sphincters up to a penlight in the woods?

That’s where I was a week ago.

That patch of concrete I feathered so nicely around the edges actually lifted up off the floor once it had dried.  Only at the edges.  It was kind enough not to break at first when you stepped on it, having a certain amount of flex, but once it dried out a bit more, it began.  Slowly at first, then more bits around the edges…  until it became obvious I was going to have to redo it again…  How pleased was I?  Pleased enough to write the first line in this post, I tell you.

Well, the rant I’d like to get into about it isn’t really going to tell you anything about what I did get done, so why not do that instead, huh?

I replaced the edging with something more suitable, but this time spent some time scraping off the layer of floor paint that acted like a release agent.  So far, so good.

The decision was made to go ahead and do the lino and tiles.

I just barely had enough lino left over from the kitchen to do the stairs, which first still had to be stripped, staple holes and gouges filled, and then sanded.  The treads were all screwed enough to remove any squeaks, the rounded treads planed flat as possible, and then the whole stair filled will leveling compound soas not to transmit any deformities through to the lino.

Once that was all done, I painted the stringers semi-gloss white, and began laying out tiles at the landing area.
It was a bit of a challenge dealing with the oddball tiles I found at Rona for 59c/ft.  13  5/16 square tiles don’t make for easy layout, and went a long way in explaining the price, but a few minutes with pen and paper solved that.  Fractions…. I never liked them in high school, but I’m glad I know how.  Still doesn’t mean I like them.

Having done the math, I covered the back of the tile stop I bought with masking tape, and used it as a story pole so I only had to mark out the tile lines once instead of trying to remember all those funky measurements.  Once I had everything marked out, I removed the tape, and glued the stop in place.  I’ve made the mistake of not using this in the past, and regretted the look.  Tile stop, I find, just adds a touch well worth the buks and effort.

Once I had that done, the 2×6’s from the old landing provided escape from the basement, and the next day I had it grouted and done.

A few pieces of nosing, and all that is left for that area is baseboard.  The rest of the laundry room will be done at a later date, once the kitchen is finished.  ….

A step into the wayback machine for a second.

I almost forgot to say that if you ever want to determine just how out of square your entire house is, lay tiles.  Not a single wall was square, so I’m happy there is such a thing as baseboard.

On the whole, I think it looks a ton better, and thank you goes out to whatever Italian flunkie set the machine wrong to produce the 59c defect tiles that look just fine to me.

I’ve now decided to do the entire kitchen area in tiles as well, making the eventual carpet install far simpler.  I really thought I wanted the entire basement in carpet again, simply because it’s warmer, but the “kitchen” area gets quite a bit of use.  My weight set would leave permanent marks in the carpet, and what to do with the fridge, stove, and area directly in front of the sink and counter?  These all added up to tiles and area rugs as a solution.  Honestly, I’m not entirely sure how it will be to live with, but I’ll know soon enough.

The reality of it is that the original design of the basement, from the word go, was poorly thought out, and the result has been awkward spaces that always demand compromise.  I did sit down one day in frustration (a few years back) and sketched out a solution, but it began with turning the bathroom 90 degrees, and moving the kitchen entirely which, in turn, meant redoing all the plumbing under that.  I, instead, tiled the bathroom floor making it permanent.