{Basement Makeover} Paint and Floor Progress

Happy Tuesday!  I hope you had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend.

It's been a few weeks since I've shared an update on the basement, so I thought I would give you a peek at how things are coming along.   The progress isn't pretty, but it's progress non the less.

Removing the nasty carpet and prepping the floor proved to be very time consuming.   It involved lots of furniture rearranging and manual labor, which made it really hard to get motivated.   I had tack strips to remove, loose vinyl to repair, holes to fill and a floor to level.  It was far from fun, but completely necessary.

I used a wonder bar and hammer to pry up the tack strips and loose vinyl.  The vinyl was installed by the previous owner and was glued to the concrete floor.  There were just a few spots around the edge that were damaged and loose from when our basement flooded.

After I had all the tack strips and loose vinyl removed I went over a few damaged sections with Kilz primer.

After the Kilz was dry I leveled the uneven floor with concrete.  Here's where I made a little boo-boo. I was supposed to buy self leveling concrete, but I ended up buying fast setting deep patch instead, oops.  It's wasn't a big deal except for the fact that I ended up having to use a trowel to make sure the floor was level.

Have I mentioned how much I hate prep work?

Before I started installing the floor I painted the walls with 2 coats of Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige using their Emerald paint.  It wasn't a huge contrast from the previous color (Sherwin-Williams Analytical Gray), but it was enough to freshen up the space.  Plus, you all know how much I love Accessible Beige :) 

This paint is so smooth and easy to roll.  I usually buy Sherwin-Williams Super Paint, but for now on I'm sticking with their Emerald line. 

After the walls were painted and the floor was level and clear of tack strips I was FINALLY ready to start laying the new floor. 

I went with TrafficMASTER Allure Sawcut Dakota Resilient Vinyl Flooring for the simple fact that it was easy to install and 100% waterproof.   It was a bit more expensive than normal plank flooring, but the fact that I don't have to worry about water was worth the extra cost.  

The only tools I used to install the floor was a level, straight edge, tape measure, pliers (to break off small pieces) and utility knife.   Although the floor was pretty easy to install, it was VERY labor intensive.   I ended up with more cuts, scrapes, bruises and sores from this project than any other.   A lot of blood and sweat went into this floor, but thankfully no tears.

I made it all the way over to the tile by the door before I had to stop.  I need to figure out how I'm going to transition the floor to the tile before I go any further.   

In the meantime, we bought our new sofa, the coffee table arrived and the new carpets have been ordered.  

Table / Metal Crate / Pot / Plant

I can't believe the difference the floor has made.  The basement feels so much larger and CLEANER now that the nasty flooded carpet has been removed and replaced.  I now look forward to spending time in the basement instead of dreading going down there.  There's still a lot of work to be done, but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

A huge thank you to Sherwin-Williams for generously providing paint for the basement. 

- Plank Wall Installation and Progress
- Finished Plank Wall
- Mosaic Subway Tile Backsplash

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