Inexpensive floor covering??? IDEAS PLEASE!

[RachelS]

Hi

We just moved and I am looking for something to cover my kitchen floors.... they are in terrible terrible shape and we can not afford a new floor. I have tried and tried to get it clean too.... it just doesn't seem to want to be clean!


I was thinking of putting something down to cover it for a couple of years until we can afford to replace it...

I also look at "click" flooring... but my dh is NOT handy AT ALL!! so.... putting it in would be a task!

eta: I believe the current floor is glued to the subflooring ???

Any ideas??? Thank you
http://www.sisalcarpet.com/ there is also a natural collection too

[RachelS]

oops.. the site says the natural selection should not be used in the kitchen

oh my... just saw the prices.... any other ideas?

[jtbuko]

Carpet in the kitchen would get dirty fast in our house. How about cheap laminate from Ikea or Costco? It does click together, but is probably worth taking the time to learn and install.

[1growingsprout]

What about those 'press n stick' tiles. they have them at homedepot. very simple and you can cut them to fit the corners and edges.

[Peppermint Leaf]

you dont need "cheap flooring" you need "flooring for cheap"

my DH and I buy homes, fix them up and sell them .. and we always get a good deal going to auctions.... one time I got solid granite 1' square tiles for $1 each -- should have been about $20 EACH !!

if your kitchen is not big you may get a deal on discontinued flooring where they only have a small amount left. If its tile that is a deal dont be afraid to mix and match and create your own pattern

I was in a house once where they put plain plywood down and then put several coats of varithane on it .. wow it looked fantastic -- like a high end floor!

[hipmummy]

What about Marmoleum. It is the new version of Linoleum.

[lightheart]

What are the current floors made out of? Have you tried cleaning them with one of those magic eraser sponges? I haven't looked into how "bad" they are in an environmental aspect, but my hubby brought one home to for me to try to get a huge rust spot off an area of vinyl flooring where we had a filing cabinet, it took most of the rust up, still need to work on that area a little more... my elbow got tired but it cleaned it so well that I cleaned the entire floor with it, don't know long term if I damaged the floor so that I will have a harder time keeping it clean, but it sure looks nice now. It is some cheap stuff we scavenged and pieced together and has these awful little indentations in it that just hold the dirt.

[EFmom]

Originally Posted by hipmummy

What about Marmoleum. It is the new version of Linoleum.

Marmoleum is quite expensive.

I'd look at laminate. We're doing that in our kitchen this summer and it is supposed to be pretty easy to do. Some of it is cheap. The cheaper varieties aren't going to hold up as well, but if you're only looking for a few years it might be OK.

The peel and stick is also a possibility, although I have had it in a few places I've lived and I've hated it with a passion.

I would never do carpet in a kitchen. Yuck.

[RachelS]

Thank you thank you thank you for the great ideas! What we have now is 12 x 12 squares that are glued to partical board.... it is a mess!!! I called lowes and they said that we could put the peal and stick on that..... urrrr... I love all the ideas! Thank you!!! I really want to do something!

What about polypropylene rugs?? They are amde for indoor/outdoor use ...??? Is that a safer plastic or would you stay away from that too?

Thank you!

[lilmissimpatient@c]

Originally Posted by RachelS

Thank you thank you thank you for the great ideas! What we have now is 12 x 12 squares that are glued to partical board.... it is a mess!!! I called lowes and they said that we could put the peal and stick on that..... urrrr... I love all the ideas! Thank you!!! I really want to do something!

I would put the extra time in and peel up the old stuff first! It will make it look nicer in the end, esp. if your kitchen was like mine, where some of the stick tiles were peeled up, chipped or otherwise uneven.

We did the click together wood floors in our home because downstairs was a concrete slab and we couldn't use real wood like we wanted. I was 8 months pregnant, and DH and I did it in a weekend. You will need to remove the floor molding with the claw end of a hammer, or a crowbar (we didn't...live and learn). It's because it will make your life infinitely easier. It's not difficult by any means, but it IS frustrating a lot of squat - measure - cut - squat - cheack measurements - curse because you measured wrong - cut again - squat again - bang into place - admire work - lather, rinse, repeat 80 times LOL Very tiring, but it's satisfying work, esp. if your old floors are in need of some lovin.

[jtbuko]

We have marmoleum click in our living room and love it, but it is super-pricey and not nearly as tough as laminate.

Laminate is a great value since it is tough, on the cheaper side, but not "cheap", and something that you can install yourself with a little patience and precision.

[DesireeH]

Is there cement under there? I keep thinking about doing this: http://www.florentinefloors.com

We have the Ikea click laminate wood flooring in half our house and nasty carpet that I hate in the rest (and our kitchen is tile and I really dont like grout either!) LOL

Between 2 kids and 2 big dogs...they can ruin carpet QUICK!

[RachelS]

Hi Mamas

Thank you for the ideas! I had to put it all on the back burner this weekend because I have been really sick and still am ... I was hoping to get something started by now...

we have partical board underneath the glued squares....

would the concrete be really hard on your feet?

I have been thinking about that indoor/outdoor carpet... ??? I still do not kow what to do because we really have no funds to do it and my dh is not handy at all.... but we are will to try just about anything

thanks again mamas

[Yuba_River]

We got a high quality laminate for cheap off of ebay a couple of years ago. There was a learning curve, but once we figured it out, it was very simple to install. Have any friends that are handy that could come help you figure out the process? Once it's in, it's awesome. Great for a baby to crawl around on because it's so easy to keep clean, and very durable.

[Nikki Christina]

we did peal & stick linleoum at our old house in the kitchen. very easy. i put it down myself & was 7 months pregnant. you dont need anything but a ruler & razor blade. it has held up GREAT. its been 3 1/2 years & is still perfect. my FIL lives there now .

our new house we put laminate in the livingroom & kitchen. it was cheep $.99 a sq ft with the underlayment.
my sil got some cheeper thats just as nice..we just wanted the particular color we got. it was easy for my husband..but he's very handy. do you have anyone that could help?
i really love my floors.

if the kitchen is small you might be able to get reminant linleoum from some place that sells flooring. we got some for our bathroom for $10. easy to put down also.. just measure it & cut . dosent have to be glued . you just put trimming at the edges & you can get paint grade pieces for very cheep. or you could probably tack it down with small nails to hold it until you could buy the triming .

indoor/outdoor carpet sounds like it would get gross in the kitchen

[SleeplessMommy]

Stick on tiles are 39 cents to 69 cents each at Lowes ... if you are not at all picky about the color/style. We did this in a basement room and it came out OK.

The snap together Ikea flooring does not take water spills well at all. Squishy floor anyone? With padding it ends up $1.70/square ft, and I would suggest upgrade (non-Ikea) padding if you go this route.

[Chloe&Coop'sMom]

I agree with a pp about check out remnant places. Unless your kitchen is huge, I'm sure you'd be able to find a great deal on linoleum at an "end of the roll" type flooring place.

[elizawill]

Originally Posted by RachelS

Hi

We just moved and I am looking for something to cover my kitchen floors.... they are in terrible terrible shape and we can not afford a new floor. I have tried and tried to get it clean too.... it just doesn't seem to want to be clean!


I was thinking of putting something down to cover it for a couple of years until we can afford to replace it...

I also look at "click" flooring... but my dh is NOT handy AT ALL!! so.... putting it in would be a task!

eta: I believe the current floor is glued to the subflooring ???

Any ideas??? Thank you
http://www.sisalcarpet.com/ there is also a natural collection too

i laid the floor down in my old house in the kitchen by myself when i was pregnant. so it's EASY and cheap. i bought peel and stick tiles, and i laid them on top of the previous junky linoleum flooring. the key is to find the center of the floor first (which my dad did that - but you could google it). i bought our flooring at lowes for pretty inexpensive...they sell it per box (i think our's was $17 box - but you can find it cheaper at big lots, etc). it looked great! when you get to the edge of the room - remove the quarter round and i can teach you a simple trick to make it flushed against the wall perfectly so theres no mistakes. easy peasy!



oh....i wanted to add...if you use peel and stick (or linoleum) overtop the old stuff- use a darker color or the old stuff will bleed through over time!

[suzyfakename]

peel & stick tiles here. Love them. we get compliments on our kitchen floor by everyone who comes over, and we have even inspired 3 different homeowners to do the same. I don't know how 'green' this is, but my hubby waxed them with a heavy duty wax from work (high school custodian) and it pretty much sealed the lines like glue. Not to mention the glorious sheen.

[karne]

This is probably not an issue for you at all, but keep in mind that older homes often have toxic materials under the floor layers making any decision to remove them a tricky and expensive proposition. Just mentioning, although that doesn't sound like your case.

Peel and stick tiles can look great, you can get them at discount stores, inexpensively, and they make a good short term solution. The problem is if they get really wet, repeatedly (like in one of my bathrooms!), they will start to come up and need to be replaced. I have used them as a stop-gap when I couldn't stand the floor, and before the major renovation was done.

Click together laminate is great, and not difficult-we've done a hallway with it, and it will probably be our choice for short term flooring in the kitchen. You do need to measure, plan, and have a saw to cut, and make sure you know if you need under-layment. It can look fantastic, and be comfy on the feet.

I will plug Craig's List--we've renovated twice now, and people are always selling leftover building materials for a fraction of the price. We have gotten really hight quality stuff for our projects this way.

Also-we didn't think we were handy prior to our first project, but it's amazing how quickly you can become handy! Good luck with your project.