Flor tile carpet review
Almost a year ago we had flash flooding in the area. I had a rather harrowing drive home during a torrential downpour. When I turned onto one road I could see water going over the surface. I was debating whether to gun it when I realized I could not see either guardrail…the water was that deep. I decided to try another road home and once again I found myself very happy to have all wheel drive as I had to drive over gravel and pieces of pavement that had been washed onto the road. There was a small section of flooded road (only a few inches this time) that I had to pass, but I made it and thought how lucky it was that we live on the TOP of the hill and not at the bottom where all these small creeks were washing out roads.
| The road I almost drove across | |
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I did an inspection of our house and was surprised to find a large puddle in our basement. Sometimes during heavy rain an old footing drain backs up into the basement and I assumed this is where the water was coming from. Then I made a big mistake. I opened the back door…and was greeted by water about 6 inches deep rushing in around me feet. Our basement is a walkout, but with a step up…and that area was full over water that must have come from either blowing rain or an overflowing gutter.
After some inspection and consideration we decided we had to pull out the old carpet and tile and gut the walls along the flooded section of walls. We found mold starting behind the pine boards on the wall and the carpet was really really gross. After doing some research we decided to try using Flor carpet tiles instead of a traditional carpet. Our reasoning was that although Flor was more expensive, we could save the installation cost by doing it ourselves. We would also be able to pull up individual tiles to clean and dry in the event of future flooding or kid spills.
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Ben finds a way to get comfy on the concrete. |
We ordered our samples and found the cheapest tiles just weren’t soft enough. After another set of tiles we found a style we liked and placed our order. They arrive less than 2 weeks later in a large stack of boxes. After much elbow grease scraping the old adhesive and grout off the concrete floor and sealing it per Flor installation instructions (do NOT use a solvent based sealer – it will eat the Flor backing) we were finally able to install our carpet. Of all my DIY projects this may have been the funnest. Laying the tiles could not have been easier and in the end took less than a day to complete (although as parent DIYers it was spread over several nights for us). We were very pleased with the end result which has held up well to LOTS of foot traffic. I am amazed at how well the tiles stay down! I can pull our couch and chair around with the tiles budging an inch, but if need be I can easily pull up a tile for cleaning.
We just got the latest Flor catalog and part of me wishes we had the need (and finances) for another flooring project. Included on the catalog is a coupon for 15% off a Flor order (FF374 good thru 11/16/2007 OR FF773W also till 11/16/2007). If you can use it, please post a comment and let me know how your project works out. If you have any questions about installing Flor on concrete, ask away. Here is a picture of our finished product.
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John, sounds great. we had to remove our carpet TWICE with the flooding. This might be a great way to redo our basement…what do you think it would cost us? it is about the same size as your basement. Would you be willing (with compensation) to advise/help us out with the installation. All the old carpet is up…thanks!
Hi – I stumbled on your blog when I googled FLOR coupon. Thanks for posting it!! I was pretty excited to save 15%. This is my first FLOR purchase and I’m looking forward using the tiles for a dining room rug.
I agree — Flor is so amazing!!! I am a huge fan.. I have it in three rooms now, and I even use the tiles for doormats too.
I haven’t done it yet, but I’m thinking about buying some of the more “high traffic” tiles for use in my car as car mats during the winter months.. I just bought a new Toyota Prius and I don’t want to ruin the carpeting so I figure some lower cost RECYCLABLE carpet mats would be good.. and FLOR is the perfect solution for them!!!
Don’t forget when you order the samples, you get to keep them and they make great coasters!!!
Smart decision using carpet tiles. Yeah, they do tend to be a bit more expensive but they’re a breeze to install and look just as good (if not better) than regualr carpet.
Great post. I’m looking into creating a Flor area rug for our living room, but I’m not sure which style would work best. You mention that some of the styles weren’t soft enough. We have a newborn, so we’re looking for plush, but also baby (and cat) friendly. I’m interested in the short shag, rake me over (too long though?) and the Twill Ride (too rough?).
Any suggestions?
Installed Flor tiles (Straight and Narrow) in my camper and love ‘em! They were easy to install, you can cut corners and weird angles with ease, and it stays put and wears like iron. Sure we could have gone cheaper, but we probably would have been replacing it in a few years if we had. With Flor, they should last the life of the camper.
I’ve been looking for info on installing FLOR over concrete, and was so happy to find your site, since you mention doing this. We want to put FLOR tiles on our newly sealed concrete floor (after waiting the 3 days for the concrete to be ready, of course), but even without the sticky FLOR dots, it’’s sticking to the concrete surface. When we picked up a FLOR tile, it actually ripped off the concrete sealant as well! We don’t know what to do, now, since we love FLOR, and had intended to put in all around our new polished concrete. Any ideas why this happened? Any ideas on how it might be prevented? We were thinking of using corn starch or something powdery to keep the tile from gluing itself to the concrete surface. Many thanks for any suggestions you can offer!
Do you know what kind of sealer you used? The Flor instructions mention not using a solvent based sealant.
“ALL concrete must be sealed with a non-solvent based concrete sealer per the manufacturer’s instructions. Failure to properly seal a concrete floor prior to installation can cause the backing of FLOR to react with the floor, which can result in indoor air quality issues and/or adherence of FLOR’s backing to the floor.”
I recommend contacting their customer service department or check their forums. I talked to them prior to my installation to make sure I got everything right and then had to ask a guy at Lowes which sealer was correct. It was NOT readily apparent which was solvent based and which was not. So far our tiles are not having any problems.
Do you remember the name of the sealer you used?
Sorry, I don’t. I bought it from Lowes. I asked one of the guys there if it was water based and then brought it to the paint counter to have another guy confirm. If you use the wrong sealer it can ruin the floor tiles.
Thanks heaps for posting that information regarding how one installs over concrete, i’ve been looking at doing stuff with carpet tiles for awhile now, and i’m glad i came across this. I also say another blog that was of some interest, and hopefully to you guys aswell, particulary this recent post * Cheap Carpet Tiles – A Negative Review