The Next Fix

When building a deck or cement patio, most people today don’t consider covering the floor of the deck or cement patio.  Normally, they are only concerned with having a place to sit their grill, table and chairs, or porch swing.  Not many people give a second though to indoor-outdoor carpeting on a deck or patio.

Back in the 1970s indoor-outdoor carpeting came in one color, golf course green, and it was not something that added to the décor throughout your home.  Now, 30 years later, indoor-outdoor carpeting comes in a variety of colors and textures so that the décor inside of your house flows to the outside as well.

Indoor-outdoor carpeting provides enough padding on your deck or patio floor to allow you and your children to play comfortably without the fear of getting burnt by a hot cement floor or splinters from a wooden floor.  If the floor you plan to cover is fully exposed to nature’s elements, then you might want to consider a carpet that has a marine backing on it such as a high grade grass carpet.  This is the best quality indoor-outdoor carpeting for flooring that will be exposed to all weather elements.

Once you have chosen the color and type of indoor-outdoor carpeting you will be using to cover your floor, you need to prepare the floor you are going to cover.  The floor surface first needs to be clean, dry, and smooth before you can begin placing down the carpet.  If you are placing the carpet down over the top of painted or waxed wood, or slated wooden deck floors, you will first need to apply an outdoor sealer to the floor and allow this to dry thoroughly.  If the deck or patio floor is cement, you can either place the carpet down without securing it to the floor similar to an area rug, or you can use a cement adhesive to permanently secure the carpet to the floor.

If you have decided that permanently securing the carpet to the floor sounds like too much work, then I suggest using the carpet much the same way you would use an area rug.  Remove all furniture, grills, and toys off of the deck or patio.  Lay the carpet down on the floor and then adjust its position until it is evenly centered.  Once that is done, you can start moving all of your furniture, grills, and toys back into the room.  Using the indoor-outdoor carpeting in this manner allows you to create a fresh new look for your deck or patio, as well as gives you an area that is at least partially covered with carpeting for you and your children to comfortably play on. 

A couple of years ago my family and I moved into a house my mother-in-law owned when she decided to move to a different city.  The house had sat vacant for a couple of years and had become home to stray cats and other animals looking for shelter.  About a year before my mother-in-law moved out of the home, she had furnished the house with brand new carpet throughout.  When we got ready to move into the home, we discovered that all of the carpet would have to be removed thanks to the numerous stray animals that had taken up occupancy.  Not having a lot of extra money to spend on replacing the carpeting, we were left wondering what we were going to do about the floors.

One day as we were walking through Menard’s comparing prices on different types of flooring, we found the answer to our flooring problem, adhesive floor tiles.  They aren’t too overly expensive and you can find them in almost any color or pattern to fit in with the décor throughout the rest of your home.  The best part about adhesive flooring is that you can walk on them as soon as you are finished laying them.  You don’t have to wait for any glue or adhesive to dry.

Before purchasing the tile, you will need to measure the floor of the room you want to remodel.  Once you have got the floor measurements, you are now ready to choose the color or pattern of the floor tiles.  When choosing the color or pattern of your adhesive floor tile, you want to make sure that the color or pattern you choose matches the rest of the décor throughout your home.  With that accomplished, you are now ready to take your adhesive floor tiles home and begin working.

Make sure that the floor has been swept and thoroughly cleaned of any dirt or debris, and give an ample amount of time for the floor to dry if you have just mopped the floor.  Find the exact middle of the room to start laying down your floor tile.  Remove the thin backing of the floor tile to expose the adhesive and then place the tile adhesive side down on the floor.  Push down on all four sides as well as in the middle of the floor tile to make sure that it is stuck firmly in place.  Once you have done this, you can begin placing the other floor tiles on each side of the first tile piece that you placed.  The adhesive floor tiles are easy to cut so that they fit evenly around the edges and corner of the room.

Voila, you now have a new look to the old floors.  Adhesive floor tiles are easy to clean and maintain, and can add value to your home.