Exploring Flooring

The work on our house is scheduled to begin soon, and I am just about ready to hit the “buy” button on that red cracked ice chrome table over at American Chairs.  Frankly, I’m amazed that I have been able to put off this urge this long.  Had I lived in a larger house, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it, but knowing as I do that my 1953 ranch house didn’t come with tons of space for an extra table, I’ve held off out of necessity rather than want.  I suppose it’s good for me to exercise a little restraint now and then.

I’m still agonizing about flooring, but I have the strange feeling that I will run across “the one” soon.  I’m almost ashamed to admit this, but I really like the look of the VCT — vinyl composition tiles.  Some of them look like something straight out of days or yore, yes, but I’ve run across some very interesting ones as well.  For example, rather than going with black and white sheet flooring (a look I’m not quite sure I want, but I’m still drawn to it), I could go with VCT tiles that have a little more texture to them:

Or how ’bout a marble or granite look?

What I like most about VCT is that unlike regular vinyl sheet flooring or tiles, it comes in vivid colors.  No, I can’t enjoy such colors in my kitchen, unless I want to look officially insane, but I like having the option:

It’s like the ocean …

This one is called “Shocking” for a reason, methinks.

Oooo … just imagine a room with the above two colors placed side by side?  Nevermind that you’d have to run from the room about every 30 seconds to throw up because of the massive headache you continuously have.  Remember — I just like thinking about the possibility of color.

I would like to see this one in person, because it looks beautiful: a little bit of black and white along with smatterings of red:

The VCT has another feature that makes it the most attractive option of all: the price.  Some tiles run about 80 cents per square foot, while some of the more intricate ones by Azrock run about 1.80 per square foot.  Either way, VCT is a bargain, and you get considerable more variety than you do with regular sheet vinyl.  You get the granite look without the granite price.  Can it get any better than that?

Of course, the downside of VCT is the maintenance; the tile requires hardcore stripping and finishing. That means that every time you need to reapply finish, you’re going to have to move out the fridge, the stove, and spend a couple days doing this job and trying to keep the kids off it.  If you’re are meticulous about keeping your floor clean and removing dirt on a daily basis, VCT is probably a good option.  Knowing myself the way I do, I know I don’t have the same methodical nature it would take to maintain a floor like this.

<sigh>  Back to the drawing board, I guess.  This blog is turning into renovation therapy.

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One Reply to “Exploring Flooring”

  1. Because we used the VCT in an office, I feel pretty comfortable about the upkeep that will be required. It’s not a high traffic area & we plan to cover it with a large rug eventually. We didn’t actually apply any finishing coats on this because we weren’t sure we needed it to start – just to maintain it later. Maybe that was a mistake but so far it’s held up well.

    I would be nervous to put it in my kitchen though – it really looks cool but in high tread situations, it just doesn’t hold up appearances. I have old VCT in my laundry room (in my basement) and I am looking forward to replacing it with epoxy & area rugs because it is really ugly & dirty.

    Hope that helps!

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