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butt-ugly flooring in a rental apartment — Brooklynian

butt-ugly flooring in a rental apartment

cythren
cythren
edited November -1 in Crown Heights/Prospect Lefferts Gardens
I'm renting an apartment that was "renovated" before I moved in with horrible plastic tile in a kitchen pattern throughout the entire apartment. The tiles were glued down sloppily by the super, and there is glue all over the top surface. Yucky.

I don't want to spend much time or money as it's a rental - but I'd like to make the floors less ugly.

Has anyone seen that plastic laminate stuff that comes in a wide roll? I think you can just basically have it cut to the dimensions of your room, and roll it out over the existing floor without glue. Does anyone have any experience with this stuff?

A matte finish fake wood patterned laminate would be so much better than the horrible shiny white floral plastic tile stuff that is in there now...

If I can sell it or take it with me when I move out, even better!

Comments

  • MOD
    MOD
    Never seen the laminate stuff you speak of, but I've also been looking and you might want to invest in a low priced floor rug. There are some that Crate and Barrel sells that are natural fiber:

    http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1266&f=23283

    Because their high-traffic, they'll last you long and you can take it with you to you're next place. There are also those nice bamboo rugs. You can find these somewhere else probably for cheaper:

    http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1266&f=11285
  • lostingreenwoodhts
    lostingreenwoodhts
    isn't there also a company that sells attractive inter-locking rug squares ( in tons of dif colors and patterns)? Cannot remember the name...:(

    Anyone have clue?
  • MOD
    MOD
    Yup, Design Within Reach.

    They call them rug tiles:
    http://dwr.com/shop/category.cfm?viewAll=true&sortProd=price&sortOrder=asc&category=18
  • lostingreenwoodhts
    lostingreenwoodhts
    Nah, not DWR, there was another company as well...have to hit the stacks and check.
  • carnivore
    carnivore
    Flor
  • capt. planet
    capt. planet
    Mamacita wrote: Never seen the laminate stuff you speak of, but I've also been looking and you might want to invest in a low priced floor rug. There are some that Crate and Barrel sells that are natural fiber:

    http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1266&f=23283

    Because their high-traffic, they'll last you long and you can take it with you to you're next place. There are also those nice bamboo rugs. You can find these somewhere else probably for cheaper:

    http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1266&f=11285
    There's a great rug store on Nostrand Ave. near Park PLace. Very affordable prices and decent selection. They just opened and I'd love to see them last!
  • alafairnadia
    alafairnadia
    or you could do what a friend of mine did - she ripped up the tile, rented a sander, and painted the floor red.
  • carnivore
    carnivore
    alafairnadia wrote: or you could do what a friend of mine did - she ripped up the tile, rented a sander, and painted the floor red.
    Not if you want your security deposit back. They just spent money to put that shit down. If you're going to undo it in any permanent way, you'd better get written permission from the landlord first.
  • alafairnadia
    alafairnadia
    it was rent controlled. she stayed for years. I think the security deposit was forfeit - she painted the walls, etc.
  • stacey
    stacey
    you can get the rolled linoleum at Home Depot or Lowes and their installation isn't that expensive. The problem with the rolled lineoleum is that it tends to curl up along the edges and seams. If you are planning on staying for a while I suggest area rugs or wall to wall carpet. There are lots of local places who have "budget" type rugs which usually including padding and installation. If you want to stick with the linoleum I suggest using tiles instead. You can get them in a variety of looks and some look like ceramic tile and they are very inexpensive.
  • cythren
    cythren
    Oh, some good ideas here - thanks!

    I have two rooms that I'd like to improve on, floorwise. One is an art studio, so carpeting isn't going to work there. I'm going to try the linoleum roll stuff even if it means it might curl up on the edges. Maybe it can be held down with some industrial strength double-sided tape around the perimeter.

    I love the area rugs at crate and barrel. I have quite a few area rugs already, but here's the problem (first time posting a photo - might not work right):

    photo

    Ick! Nice earth-tone rag rugs look horrible on the ugly tile floors!

    The carpet tile idea sounds cool. It might be great for the bedroom! Will check it out, thanks!

    A neighbor in my building had the many layers of ugly linoleum removed, and had the floors sanded and refinished. Under the ugly layers, there is beautiful parquet hardwood floors. I'll be here for awhile, but don't want to deal with the dust and who-knows-what toxic materials that would be unearthed by that kind of renovation project. Just last week I scraped an ancient security system off the windows. It was made of LEAD :shock: tape and electrical wires. Must have been from at least the 1970s, if not much earlier.
  • stacey
    stacey
    cythren wrote: I have two rooms that I'd like to improve on, floorwise. One is an art studio, so carpeting isn't going to work there.
    If you want to put a little $ in it you can lay down the "snap and lock" laminate floors or the parquet squares. There is a place on Court Street (about two blocks past Hamilton Avenue) that gets lots of flooring on close out and they sell it very cheap. Also I just finished a reno and I have about 40 square feet of maple flooring that I wouldn't mind giving to you if you want it.
    cythren wrote: I'm going to try the linoleum roll stuff even if it means it might curl up on the edges. Maybe it can be held down with some industrial strength double-sided tape around the perimeter.
    Again if you use the roll the only other problem is that if you scratch it or it gets damaged you have to replace the whole thing where as a tile you just replace one. Again check out Armstrong tiles (self-sticking) at Lowes which are about 20.00 for 20 square feet.
    cythren wrote: The carpet tile idea sounds cool. It might be great for the bedroom! Will check it out, thanks!
    I have seen them but never in an actual home. I would be curious to see how much "grip" they have on the bottom (especially if they are installed over slippery lineoleum).

    Good luck and I hope it all works out
  • sweet tea
    sweet tea
    stacey wrote:
    [quote=cythren]The carpet tile idea sounds cool. It might be great for the bedroom! Will check it out, thanks!
    I have seen them but never in an actual home. I would be curious to see how much "grip" they have on the bottom (especially if they are installed over slippery lineoleum).



    a friend put these in her finished basement after flooding ruined the old carpet. (she liked how they looked and also figured it might be nice to only have to replace part of the floor in the event of future flooding/raucous parties.)

    they looked great (not at all like they would separate from each other, for instance). i think the floor underneath was just concrete, so i can't say as far as slipping on linoleum.
  • MOD
    MOD
    cythren, That photo was hilarious. It was hard at first to imagine what type of bad tile you were talking about! Oh man, now I wish I never knew! That's some grandma linoleum you got there. Whew. Are you sure you want to live there? :wink::lol:

    Jokeing aside, the carpet tiles have an adhesive backing so they don't slip. The ones at DWR are also really washable. Just take the dirty one off and wash it in the sink. easy. Send us a photo of the finished work once you're done.
  • cythren
    cythren
    :):)

    I'd use prettier linoleum tile to cover over the existing ugly stuff, except that a lot of the tile that is there now is peeling up at the corners. Did I mention that? Yeah. It's ugly to begin with, then there's the glue on the FRONT side (doh!), AND the tiles are peeling up at the corners. Some fine craftsmanship there, all around.

    Putting new sticky tile on top of the existing sticky tile would not fix the peeling-up problem, right? That's why I'm looking at the linoleum roll solution...One big sheet of fake-wood pattern linoleum to cover over all of the mishaps underneath.
  • MOD
    MOD
    Yup, the beauty of renting; dealing with the owners bad and most cheap tastes. Been there, actually still there. damn #-o
  • em26
    em26
    Flava Flaaaaaaaaaaaaaaav!!!!!!!!!

    Ahhhmm....sorry I just had to get that out of my system....been watching the Flavor of Love Marathon on VH1....yeeeeeeeeeah boi!!! :mrgreen:

    How big is your kitchen?

    If its not that big , and the tiles are peeling up and talking sh** to you?? b**** slap them in the face and then yank them up off your floor....you'll show them who's boss 8)

    I don't think putting new sticky tile on top of the existing tile would be a good idea...its best to get the old out , make sure the floor underneath is clean before you lay the new ones down.

    Its easier to use and install sticky tile.....all you need is a box or two of tile....count the funky tiles that are presently abusing your floor and you'll get an idea of how much tile you will need.....and a nice sharp razor blade.

    There are so many sticky tile designs , they even have the kind that look like real marble :)
    Make sure to get a good quality tile....strong ones....not the flimsy crap you have now.
    When you go buy the tile , grab one of the samples and try to fold it over....if it foldes over easily , than its cheap sh**! Keep walking.
  • cythren
    cythren
    Em,

    Kitchen? This is my bedroom we're talking about! I can see why you would think kitchen, though...and the kitchen does have those nasty plastic tiles too, but somehow it's OK in the kitchen. Maybe because they're kitchen tiles :? It's the living room, bedroom and studio room that need some major help.

    I'm totally OVER plastic stick-on tiles. NEVER will I voluntarily choose sticky plastic tiles!

    I actually went with the crate and barrel route and bought a bamboo mat (on sale) for the studio. The mat is 8 x 10, and the room is 10x12 - so that leaves a border of just a couple of feet of ugly to hide somehow.

    For the bedroom, I'm saving up for FLOR. I love the designs, but it's kinda pricey. Gotta save up for that.
  • em26
    em26
    Who would lay tiles in their bedroom , and living room? Who?? OMG WHY?? :cry: ......twisted freaks...the tiles are good for one thing though , feet + socks+plastic tile= never having to walk around your apartment ever again , you can just SLIDE!! :D/

    I live in an old apartment building as well.

    The living room , bedroom , and entrance hall area leading to each room , have hardwood flooring.

    But , damn does this place need a paint job! A fun project that I will tackle soon :)
  • erikka
    erikka
    lostingreenwoodhts wrote: Nah, not DWR, there was another company as well...have to hit the stacks and check.
    They sell them on target's website...not cheap, but better than an ugly floor.

    My last place had hideous floors and I got a rug from Crate and Barrel. They have good sales--you just have to watch.

    I once saw someone who did squares of clear lucite in a tile pattern over a floor--it looked really cool.

    Apartment Therapy has great tips for dealing with rental spaces:
    http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/good-questions/good-questions-covering-an-ugly-bathroom-floor-001669

    http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/good-questions/good-questions-cheap-flooring-options-for-crooked-floors-007098
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