Basement Floor

In February we had another home emergency. Our sunk pump over heated because there was frozen water in the line and it was trying to pump melting water away from the house. On a Sunday morning we woke to find the basement floor coated with a thin layer of water. We immediately called our plumber, the one who replaced our water line from the house. (The beginning of my blogging.) He was definitely working over time. We were one of numerous people who encountered the same problem that weekend.

Doug and I tried to remove the water ourselves from the basement. After about an hour and backaches with little suctioned water to show for the amount of work, we called the professionals. They dried out the basement and removed the old red carpet we had. Luckily the new bedroom carpet for the oldest did not have to be removed. They were able to salvage it because of the pad underneath.

Of course the sunk pump situation was not an easy fix. The plumber rigged up a temporary solution that dumped water in the backyard and created a river in both our yard and the neighbor's. The plumber came back with what was suppose to be the final strategy but it didn't work. We still had water pouring out into the backyard and not out the old route that went along the side of the house. Doug came up with a potential solution. The plumber liked it and it worked.

We then had to haggle with the insurance people for the appropriate coverage of the damage. Luckily the group we hired to dry out the basement were familiar with this type of damage and costs. They hounded the insurance people and helped us know what was fair and reasonable. Unfortunately fair and reasonable didn't cover the replacement of the basement flooring (because of its age and condition). As a result, since February, we had been living with the concrete slab as the floor. We had some remnant carpet pieces that we strategically placed on the floor for some level of comfort when we were down there. The concrete floor made the basement look so dark and gloomy.

In October we were able to buy and have our new flooring installed. I was amazed by how much brighter the room looks considering we have a darkish carpet. It is so nice to have a soft flooring. Our old carpet didn't even have a pad underneath so we were pretty use to hard flooring.

We used the flooring to divide the room. From the stairs down into the TV area we have a dark tan carpet and then the back half that leads to the oldest's bedroom we had industrial tiles put in (they remind me of school tiles). This is our multipurpose area. I use it for crafts, the little one uses it as a play and dance area, Doug uses it for part of his collection, and the boys have not found a specific use for that space.

What a chore it was moving our belongings completely out of the room so the flooring could be laid. It's become a great space. See what you think. We use the basement area for guest sleeping too.