Now that I can see so well with my new glasses, I can finally take photos. The carpet tiles that I had installed a couple of years ago had a black backing somewhat rigid but without adhesive. In the box were little squares with adhesive on both sides. I had absolutely no confidence that these little squares would suffice. On to Home Depot, my very favourite store, for something more substantial.
The gentleman to whom I explained my problem pointed to a tape that looked like a half-finished knitted ladder but, man oh man, was it ever adhesive. It was protected on both sides by waxy paper. I bought what I needed and went to work. It wasn’t particularly easy. At times, I reminded myself of a cartoon or live comedy in which something sticks to the character’s fingers and he keeps trying to get rid of it, shaking the sticky tape from one set of fingers to the other over and over and ends up sticking it to anything other than body parts in frustration. It kept happening and was both annoying and expensive but once, at long last, I had set the carpet tiles down, did they ever stick!
Now for the removing, I had a (dare I say sticky?) problem on my hands. The carpet tiles had solidly adhered to the plywood subfloor. I had no choice but to remove the tiles with some of the black backing still adhering to the subfloor. Here’s what it looked like:
I tried using various tools to lift the whole gooey stuff and managed to lift about a half-inch per 10 or 15 minutes! That was going to be exhausting. I tried to apply all kinds of liquids from thinner to boiling water, even remover, all without success. Besides, when I could lift the sticky black tape, it came with a portion of the subfloor plywood. One way or another, I would have to even out the subfloor.
Finally I called on Ismael. We went to Construrama, now also a favourite shopping venue, bought a couple of sheets of MDF about half a centimeter thick to cover the whole enchilada. Thicker would have presented a problem opening drawers once the vinyl tiles were added on top. Ismael is a very good stone mason but he so enjoys working with other materials, like wood or paint, that it would be a shame depriving him of his delight working with things other than cement and stones. In no time at all he had covered the floor with the MDF (I love that stuff!) and I never got a chance to take a pic. He seemed eager to get on with the tiles so I let him handle the whole thing. Here’s the result:
Now it’s a breeze to keep clean and has sensibly reduced the amount of dust in the rig. Decidedly a relief for Tina who seems to have some kind of asthma as a reaction to the dust. For me too. I had other tiles in mind but it would have meant a trip to Querétaro. I had briefly contemplated laminate flooring but vetoed it when I measured by how much it would have elevated the floor.
All’s well that ends well.
2 comments:
Your floor looks great! Good job.
I know you are glad that's over. Thank you for letting us get a peek into your world. I would love to see pictures of the area around your neighborhood. Is land expensive in that area or is it even available? Healthcare costs here in the states are very depressing. Between that, low interest rates on savings, business closings affecting our commercial lease property,the inability to move real estate we own, and the increased taxes and insurance on it all,Mexico looks like a solution. But then I spend the day with my amazing grandson who lives 30 minutes away and see the sonogram pictures of the one on the way... My husband thinks we wouldn't make it across the Texas/Mexico border alive and he cannot even begin to imagine giving up his guns. We thought we had retirement all planned out, but as Lennon said, "Life is what happens when you are making other plans."
Virago
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