Renovations Step 2: Replacing the floors, Part 2

After lifting a few sections of the old particle board, it's obvious that we've had many little visitors here over the years. The little critters had made pathways alongside the insulation, which packed down so flat in many areas, that it just had to be replaced. We also found lots and lots of mouse droppings, pine cones, acorns, etc... obviously this was their home :)

So we started doing just that - replacing the insulation in spots that were bare, vacuuming all the debris left behind, and adding a vapor-barrier on top. This was no easy task... but we were lucky that my Dad was visiting from Toronto for a few weeks (at my request, since we really needed his help here). Him and my husband tackled the floors, which was completed in less than 2 weeks. Hooray!

There! Now we're ready for some plywood! There are some areas where we just couldn't take out the particle board (for various reasons). Below is a photo showing the old next to the new:

Now, my goal is to be able to move in by this Winter. I don't necessarily care right now if not everything is perfect or even pretty. I just want to move in. And seeing that I can't make up my mind on flooring, and we have renters arriving soon, I wanted something I could install easily and cheaply. I also wanted something thin so that I can put real wood on top of it, whenever I decide to.

We opted for peel-and-stick vinyl tiles. These things are AWESOME! I shopped around to find a pattern that was decent, but still within my cheap requirement. I found these beauties at the local Family Dollar. At $12 a box, they were a steal! So it cost me less than $300 to redo the entire building. Can you say BARGAIN!?

Seriously, in less than one day we had 2 rooms covered. Now that's progress! Here are the before/afters of both rooms:

BEFORE - Storage Room

AFTER - Storage Room

BEFORE - Office Space

(ignore the gross, stained mattress... it was there when we bought the place!)

AFTER - Office Space

Now these before shots aren't terrible... the pattern of these rooms' floors weren't bad. The main room is a different story. Once that's replaced, it'll make a huge difference in there.