I don't know about the free returns. I love free returns, but they simply didn't have anything I liked.

This is not the same, but very similar to the rug we got:
https://www.overstock.com/Home...CQAEYACM&searchidx=6

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions!

So, we both dislike the existing floor. I think it's hideous, tbh.



Also, there are parts that are loose, some that have a chip missing, some that have a loose part that's sitting there.

So at the very least, I think those need to be addressed, if for no other reason than so more parts don't come loose and risk asbestos floating up into the air.

As to the area rug, I was looking at some, one problem is the room is 11 X 18, on one end of it there is a built in L-shaped desk. So an area rug wouldn't work there, and then we'd still see the ugly floor. Also, the part where there's a door to the outside probably can't be carpeted or tiled, because the door won't clear the added height (and since it's an outside door, I wouldn't want to shave off a few inches on the bottom of the door, like you might with an interior door).

But I will consider an area rug, I'm just concerned that Mr. SK won't like that option because this room will be his studio, he'll have a rolling cart and so on and I think a flat flooring would be the better option.

Steve, regarding painting the existing floor, what type of paint would you recommend? Also, how could we pick a reasonable color? Re epoxy paint, as far as I can tell, it is much more expensive than I realized, so I don't think that's going to be an option! (Unless I'm misunderstanding the epoxy paint). The flooring guy said the floor is 224.5 square feet, so painting that with expensive epoxy paint would break the bank.

If we could paint the parts that are going to be exposed, and maybe do the Modutile up to the point where the door opens, and use transition strips from the floor tile to the old floor, that might work...

If you decide to do the area rug, I've had good luck with wayfair, and also check out outdoor rugs. We have two outdoor rugs in our regular rooms (basement in 1, living room in our BC apartment) and they are both totally fine. They were far cheaper than regular rugs. Obviously tastes vary and the outdoor ones may not be your style, but it's worth checking out.

Also, definitely worth it to consider the backing for the rug.... you can buy inexpensive rug pads at most of the online sites. Don't worry if it's slightly smaller or larger than your actual rug. You can cut the pad if it's too big, and a few inches short on an edge or two of your rug isn't going to be noticeable. The rug pads are thin, and are there for safety (rug won't slide out from under you) more than to add padding/comfort.

The rug I got has almost no pile, so it would not interfere with an outside door opening. Ours is in front of our front door. Try to remember that you'll never again be as bothered by these aesthetic irritations as you are now. I hate the carpeting in my home office, but by simply putting an area rug over it that covers about 1/3 of the carpet, the eye no longer sees the carpet. Think focal points. Granted, that tile will be difficult to distract the eye from unless the rug is in the same tones, and that is a very large room, but even if your area rug only covers half the room, it will be a marked improvement. Post pictures of rugs you like and I can tell you which will be successful in foiling that tile.

We had those exact tiles in the basement of our 1950’s house in Idaho. Pretty sure the asbestos is encorporated pretty well into the tile, so unless you are planning on grinding it up the bits in your coffee grinder and exhaling the dust, you should be ok if you just glue them back down. I had a good quality indoor/outdoor carpet put in our Ferndale basement (in my studio) because we had the same issues as you with flooring - but I am really not a fan of carpet in a studio. If it were me - I’d get some awesome big area rugs that had those tile colors (they do not bother me now - they are pretty awesomely retro) so that your husband can make whatever mess he wants in his space and it will be easy to clean up. You will be amazed at how some furniture will make it so you don’t notice the tiles so much anymore. And then you will have more money to play with fixing up whatever you want in the rest of the house.

Ok, this is super helpful, thank you everyone!

So, I think the best plan may be to 1) do some spot gluing of the loose tiles. 2) get an area rug for the main part of the room, and then 3) for the built in desk area, just get one of those plastic office mats that people put under office chairs. The old flooring will be much less noticeable, and the rug and plastic mat thingy will prevent any more damage to the original tiles, thereby keeping them intact.

So, here are some indoor/outdoor rugs I found on HD... Would nay of these work? I thought I should pick something that matches the tiles somewhat, and I don't think Mr. SK likes the traditional arabian/oriental rug pattern.

Also, the walls are brighty and cheery and the built-in shelves and desk are white, so I was thinking that a dark colored floor would be a nice contrast without making the room feel dark. Am I thinking about it the wrong way?

1. I think I think this one the best

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ha...ug-3001950/305849237

2.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Un...ug-3127465/302845137

3.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fo...BWC03PJ3VH/202674699

4.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ha...ug-3001959/305782822

5.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ha...ug-3001964/305849118

6.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ho...0252803651/206775013

7.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Se...0872403051/304384981

For what it's worth, the tiles in my kitchen and 1st floor bath were damned ugly. I could not (and can not) remodel the kitchen for some time, so I bought some floor paint and a low-voc polywhey floor finish and I've loved the results. It's been omgosh, 3 years I think and it still looks new. Very little $, a bit of time, something nice to look at til a later date.

Original tiles, yuck. They were the same in the bathroom.


Painted and finished kitchen floor.


Painted and finished bathroom floor (this picture is before polywhey finish).

Nice work, Bernard!

I'm good at finding products and low prices but am terrible at design choices, SK. I'll leave that advice to the others here who are far more qualified! (but I like the ones you've picked....I just have no clue as to how they will look in the room....now you understand my free returns priority....)

Bernard, wow those floors look awesome!!! You are very, very multi-talented!! I suspect Mr. SK won't want to add any complicated painting jobs at this point, but I'll show him your photos and that kind of paint.

Looking at your floors it makes me think that painting just one solid color (rather than a design like you have) might not look too great (unless you added an area rug, and then we're back here, having come full circle!) Also, I think some of this we can't really do until after we move and figure out what things will look like with furniture in place.

WTG, I'm like you I think, I can see that the colors might share some characteristics, but it's really hard for me to imagine the affect of the carpet in the room.

So, I just did the worst, most "quick and dirty" edit job to try to paste that carpet into the photo of the room. let's see how it turned out:



So, leaving aside the very bad photo editing, I think if the carpet is any where near the color it appears to be in the photo, it might just work...

From here it looks like any one of them would look good.

Really like the first one you posted. Go for it! You will not notice the tiles.

Steve, Jodi, thanks! I think this will work.

Also I may send off a looks chip of floor to one of those asbestos testing centers, it looks like that's not super expensive.

Based on everything I've read, I'm sure it's asbestos, but we might as well try to find out for sure.

Ugh, what a hassle!

If they are 9" tiles, don't bother to send them. All 9" tiles have asbestos, or that is what I was taught in Contractor school.

If they are 12" most likely don't and are worth testing.

Steve, thanks for the tip! Any money we don’t need spend is money we don’t want to spend! I’ll measure them when I’m there tomorrow. I think they’re 9in though.

Do have any advice about what glue to use to deal with the few that are loose? I’m going to go to Lowe’s tomorrow an some of course I’ll ask there, but if you have a go-to product please let me know!

P.S. Mr. SK likes the area rug I picked out (the first one in the set). Whew.