We had noticed that there were indications on the floor that the water had moved under the vinyl floor tiles as several of them were loose enough that they could be lifted with minimal effort. We had already figured several years before that we would eventually want to replace the floor. We sent a sample of the vinyl floor tile and the adhesive to have it tested for asbestos. The good news was no asbestos.
Since we have had water on the basement floor in the past 17 years that we have lived in our house, we did a bunch of research to determine the best solution. We decide that an epoxy stone floor was the ideal solution. If you get water on top of the floor, the water will seep through the floor to the concrete below it and then go out your floor drains.
We looked at several different companies and got two estimates. We ended up going with Galaxy Stone. We had visited their booth at the Pittsburgh Home Show several years before and still had the business card.
So we are always looking for the most economical way to do all of our home projects, so we decided we could save a lot of money by removing all of the old vinyl floor time ourselves. Some of the floor tile came up fairly easy and some was a lot tougher. Our section of floor that we were doing was a little over 600 square feet.
Removing all of the old floor tile was enough of a challenge, however having to move all of the furniture out of the room was probably every bit as challenging. Some got moved to the garage and some to the music room next to the family room.
So, once we got all of our work done it was time for Galaxy Stone to come and do their work. We ad the installation scheduled for early April, so of course it snowed the day that they came for the install. They were a two person crew including Dan, the owner of the company.
They started by sanding all of the old adhesive off of the floor to that it was properly cleaned and prepped. They hauled all of the stone and epoxy down the stairs to the family room and then began to mix it all one batch at a time. They would do one batch and pour it out in different piles and then had to hand trwel the entire floor. They started in the far corner and worked across the entire floor. They completed all of the work in one day. What an amazing difference. One of the reasons that we went with Galaxy Stone is they have a smoother surface so you can walk across the floor in your bare feet and not be in pain.
Here are the photos to illustrate that work.