Hello and happy mid-July! We hope everyone is finding ways to beat the heat. It is brutal these days!
This past weekend, we had the basement floor replaced. We did NOT want to do this. But our real estate agent, who we trust completely, told us that the flooring we had needed to go.
On the bright side, we got another dumpster, which always makes Steph a happy girl!
A little history
When we bought the house, the basement had a perimeter of tile with Berber carpet in the center. The carpet was in good condition and we chugged along with that setup for a good 14 years or so.
But over time, with three kids and a revolving door of dogs, that carpet started looking rough. So in 2023 we had the carpet replaced with vinyl plank flooring. We didn’t replace the tile because it was in good shape and, so we thought, tile was a timeless look. So the carpet came up and new flooring went down:
The next (and final) round
When we had our real estate agent over to walk through the house and give us suggestions on which renovations we should do and which ones weren’t worth it, the basement floor was not at all on our radar. But she walked about three steps into the room and said, “This floor has to go” (I might be paraphrasing, but the sentiment is on point).
You may not be able to tell from the picture, but this basement is not small. Also, the measurements are wonky, with diagonal walls and odd hallways. Measuring for flooring was not fun and, in the end, we needed flooring to cover 600 square feet. For reference, that is larger than the first apartment we lived in.
Luckily, our real estate agent also knew a guy who did good work at very reasonable prices (because 600 square feet of flooring was NOT a reasonable price). So, we scheduled him, chose flooring (and had it delivered – 40 boxes!), and behold:
She might have been right
We hate to admit it, but our real estate agent was right. The room looks bigger without the tile. We also realized that the tile was limited the furniture arrangement options in the room. Without that boundary, we could make the tv the focal point of the room for movie nights. The very evening that the floor was finished, we had a popcorn and movie night (what did we watch? Jurassic World Dominion – a great movie for a big screen!)
The original plan was to do the bathroom at the same time as the basement (by the same guy). But we’re tired of renovations for the moment, so we’re going to press pause, enjoy the summer (with our Spanish visitor!), and get back to renovations in the fall. Tonight, a Monopoly throw down (apparently our Spanish visitor is a Monopoly Master – we will see!). Tomorrow, a concert at Starlight amphitheater, always a good place to spend an evening. This weekend, we’re headed to the lake to float in the water for a few days.
See you next week!
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