I’m Saying Goodbye To Concrete Floors

Well, I’ve had enough. Enough of a solid color dark flooring that shows every tiny little speck of dirt. Enough of a floor that chips. Enough of a floor that has to be repainted periodically to stay looking decent, but will never look great. Enough of dull and boring.

But do you see that concrete floor? That was a freshly painted, freshly mopped floor, and look at all of the dirt and footprints!! It literally shows every…single…thing. And when something is impossible to keep clean, and doesn’t even look good when it IS clean, I have little or no motivation to KEEP it clean.

It’s time to move on.

The problem is this: In the past when I’ve looked at flooring options for my little condo, the flooring I’ve liked has had one of several issues–out of my price range, impractical, or Matt didn’t like it at all.

So imagine my surprise when I finally brought home a box of flooring that was just perfect. It was reasonably priced, practical, and Matt LOVED it. Oh, and it’s pretty, too!

I’m talking about this…

Trafficmaster Ceramica, groutable peel-and-stick vinyl tiles. If you’ll remember, we used groutable vinyl tiles in J & A’s master bathroom and guest bathroom. Of course, theirs is a much higher quality (Mannington brand)…with a much higher price.

But while a Mannington flooring is probably not very practical for my little condo (I’d never, ever see a return on my investment with a product like that), I think the Trafficmaster product is a great option, and a much more reasonable investment for this type of residence.

I found it at Home Depot, and as I was looking at all of the peel-and-stick tiles, I was just disappointed. It all looked like the same cheap stuff I used in my very first apartment about 15 years ago. (Yes, I did improvements to a rental. Does that shock you?) 🙂

In fact, I think they were all the same patterns that were available 15 years ago. They all looked and felt cheap. They had almost a rubberized surface, which felt like it would easily scratch and gouge. They were super thin, and very light weight.

And then I got to this Trafficmaster Ceramica. It felt completely different. The surface is incredibly hard, and when I went to pick up the box, I was certainly not expecting it to weigh so much. This stuff is HEAVY compared to the others.

So I brought a box home to check it out, and I was completely giddy at what I saw.

This flooring looks like it was custom made for my little condo. The browns blend beautifully with my butcherblock countertops. But what’s more, this flooring has little patches of a gray that almost have a very super light teal look to it, and then patches of a burnt orange. Brown, teal-ish gray, and orange.

Do you hear what I’m saying?! BROWN…..TEAL-ISH GRAY…..AND ORANGE!! See for yourself.

Ummm…hello? Can you say PERFECT!?

And the really good thing is that I have yet to detect a repeatable pattern. Don’t you hate it when a flooring has three or four repeatable…and very noticeable…patterns in a box? Do you know what I mean? Like a flooring that’s supposed to look like hard wood, but every fourth tile has a knot hole in exactly the same place. Well, I’ve yet to notice anything like that with these. They all look very natural to me.

Interestingly, I’ve noticed that my taste in flooring is changing. I’ve never been a huge fan of a flooring with lots of color variation and movement, but after living with a solid color flooring and three animals, I think the color variation and movement will be a very welcome change.

I’ve also never been a huge fan of having tile throughout an entire house. That seems like a very “Florida” look to me. But I find myself warming up to that idea as well.

Plus, Matt loves this floor. So, I’m sold.

Now I just have to find the time.