Could we talk about flooring???

Hi, I know it is expensive but we had ceramic tile throughout our house when we lived in Mississippi – it was amazingly tough and survived Hurricane Katrina, even though the rest of our stuff like furnishings did not – I would have liked it in my house in Illinois, but sadly it was not an option and I cannot afford to replace what we have here. However if you can afford it I would highly recommend it. Even if you just put it in the kitchen and dining area, it would most likely be a benefit.

OK As far as the sweeping thing (buy a dog LOL it helps) otherwise it’s ok. As above mentioned having someone throw the vacuum over it is really all we do regularly and wash only as necessary.

Defenatly have it sealed but remember it is important to wait atleast a month after installing the grout before you do the seal to be sure it is cured.

As far as the style ect. I would say that something with a mixture of colors (brown is great w/ dogs, dirt, crumbs) and do not go with a shiny tile stick with something with more of a matt or textured look. If doing yourself do not (per hubby) to open 4 boxes at a time taking one out of each and rotating the tiles. Don’t worry about the arrows unless you pick a structured tile.

Hope this helps ! Good luck on this. I think of you often, because this is what my hubby does and it makes me smile.

Misty

Great point Doug, our tiler told us to use a darker grout because otherwise it gets dirty quickly – I miss my tile floor and we are planning it if we move again.

Hi Cindy, thanks for asking – we are doing well now thank you. We were a military family stationed on the coast and had bought a house. We were not in a flood zone, but we did take out flood insurance, praise God. We evacuated for the storm on August 26th, the next time I saw our home was January 1st 2006! My husband returned to the base and our house when it was safe, but because we knew our home was severely damaged, we were sent to a base in Arkansas for 5 months. He stayed and did all the hard work of getting rid of all of our flood ruined furnishings and items and tore out the walls of the house so that the mold did not get worse. It was a tough 5 months for him, doing his military job and taking care of the house. He was glad that I did not get to go back until 5 months later, because he said it was painful enough for him to see the antique furnishings that my mother had given us in England, and that had been handed down for 4 generations, riddled with mold and wrecked. He through away most of our possessions in the first week, because they were covered in toxic waste and mold. Yes, we lost a lot of things and a lot of money – however, it was just stuff at the end of the day – and though I miss the connection I felt to my mother through those heirlooms (especially as she died in January 06)- I felt blessed that we survived, that we had insurance that covered most of the furniture and eventually we were able to get our home fixed up and sold nearly a year after the storm. For a while it was hard, for 5 months we were paying a mortgage on a wrecked house and rent on an appartment in Illinois where the Air Force sent us because the medical care was not good in the area anymore for a child with a disability which we have – but we managed and we thank God for that everyday. Since then we have little by little been getting ourselves back to normal – being English and not used to hurricanes and tornados, I have to say – for quite a while I was quite afraid of the weather when tornado warnings would go off, and even now they make me far more nervous than the average American I think – it also took its toll on our daughters who grew up in Europe and within their first 13 months in the US had to face that hurricane – it has taken a couple of years for them to regain their sense of security, school suffered but we are happy to graduate a year later than everyone else, at least we still can do that. Having rambled on and having written all this, I have to say – we were some of the lucky ones, we are alive, we are now settled in a home away from the hurricane zone, and we were insured. My only regret was that because of the storm I never got to see my mother in England again and she died in January 06 – before I had the funds to go back and see her – that also devastated our daughters – but I know she watches over us, and is so happy to know we are finally settled.

Now my stomach feels sick and my heart goes out to all those who live along the Gulf Coast and may be facing Hurricane Gustav early next week, a few days past the anniversay of Katrina. We were recently back in Mississippi on the coast, and it is still far from back to normal – it is truly sad. For any of you on the Coast this weekend, heed the warnings, evacuate, take your photos and small precious things and the important paperwork – then pray with all your hearts and minds. For the rest of us away from that zone, let us all pray for the safety of people who have already suffered way too much and let us pray that Gustav fizzles away with a whimper and not a bang. When I see that symbol on TV the little eye of the hurricane, it can still make me feel physically sick – I am praying very hard this weekend.

Sorry this is so long.

Thanks Cindy – I have learned life is all about perspective, I had a different perspective prior to Katrina, I learned a lot from that storm – prior, I had been one of those, who just thought how sad, gave some money to the Red Cross and moved on – now I have a completely different attitude to all disaster and I am far more aware of what people actually go through and what the needs are. Let us keep the prayers going for everyone who may need to evacuate, who may be in harm’s way, and especially for those who need help to get away from the danger zone – the elderly and those without transport. Never again do I want to see another Katrina aftermath – I hope that the help is there this time – it seems like it may be from news reports and I pray that is so. Katrina renewed my faith many times over, and my relationship with God was profoundly changed forever.