Orange tile woes

9 years ago

I recently bought a property to turn into my music/arts school. It has a lot of unique charm and character being a cedar. Unfortunately because so much of it is cedar it can make it seem quite dark on the inside even though lots of light comes in. To make matters worse it has orange tiles throughout and the floor is not completely even. I had one fellow through say it would cost at least $30,000 to level and put floating bamboo floor through. I need a floor covering that acoustically sounds good and improves the overall look of the place.

Any ideas for it would be much appreciated.

Featured Answer

alant1000

9 years ago

I've got to admit if they are orangey more than terracotta, then I'd be sorely tempted to go to town and make this a monumental vintage looking room, perhaps by somehow colouring the walls white and adding amazing mid century furniture.

But in practical terms, 30k seems a lot but a big chunk of that will be the labour to remove the old tiles.

Would an option be to add a number of large rugs instead or would that damage the acoustics? If not, then perhaps just standard laminate flooring.

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Comments (10)

Matthew Decorator
9 years ago
Remove the tiles yourself or pay a firm to remove them? As that's going to be a lot of the cost.

I would be inclined to keep them and then paint the entire room pure brilliant white with a slight shine?

Can you not Lino over the top of them? I've had to in the past and personally I couldn't tell the difference
Sally Gregory thanked Matthew Decorator
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iolosdad
9 years ago
If it was my cabin I think id get a very soft white wood stain to lighten the space and still show the wood grain and have an acoustic under lay put down then a hard wearing carpet fitted, go to your nearest quarry and order a slab to go under the log burner. please come back and show us the "after pix" not many do
Sally Gregory thanked iolosdad
catjanesawf
9 years ago
what kind of music/arts school is it? Obviously as you will presumably have people coming in it's important that you avoid any trip hazards so this must be a nightmare for you!..
The only solution that i can think of, other than biting the bullet and sorting the floor out, would be to use the straight lines you have - the walls. I would get tables that can fold out from the walls (not sure how to describe them but they are attached to the wall with a hinge and fold out and legs fold out onto the floor but the main support comes from the wall) and then for seating go with firm bean bags with the leathery type fabric that you can wipe down easily. To lighten up the space, large mirrors will reflect the light coming in from the window, some spot lights in the ceiling or floor might be a good idea.
Matthew Decorator's idea of lino is very good - my mum had an uneven floor in her kitchen and the builder simply plastered over the floor to make it level and then put lino down on top of her existing tiles which would have been costly to take up.
I hope it goes well for you!
Sally Gregory thanked catjanesawf
Sally Gregory
Original Author
9 years ago
The tiles go all the way though the house. My plan is to white wash the ceilings to introduce more light. I will have to plasterboard a couple of the rooms and add special insulation that has soundproofing qualities as there are two studio rooms side by side. I'll look into the lino but not sure I want the dead sound. Maybe if I compromise and have some carpet and some bamboo it might end up cheaper. The rough quote was with me pulling up the tiles- which seems ridiculous. Ive had one person suggest laying a filler and another say pull them up and level out the concrete underneith.
ingabrereton
8 years ago
What happened in the end? Could you update us? This building looks fabulous and as if it had been designed by a quality architect. I hope you got some help from an acoustic engineer to decide how to deal with the surfaces to make it suitable for your uses. On the face of it I would want to have the interior spray painted white - but because it is so intact and looks like quality, I would probably cover most of the interior walls with acoustic board on batons so that it could be restored later, just leaving a few cedar walls on show as a feature. The floor I would likely cover with thick underlay and carpet because it does not damage the floor below it and it softens sound. It is possible to level floors with sheet hardboard over most surfaces as long as they are fairly level. The stove in the kitchen looks fab too, hope it was saved and re-used somewhere.

Best wishes and hope the project is progressing well.
Sally Gregory thanked ingabrereton
Sally Gregory
Original Author
8 years ago
I am part way through renovations- the front section of the house was leased as an art studio until Janurary of this year. Have spent a week sanding back the rough cut cedar to expose the beams, took out a wall and put in a new one and am part way through plaster boarding to add contrast with the timber. Two skylights/Windows have gone into the front space- the rest will be renovated at a later date. Floor is still proving to be an issue :( most is okay but you can see where is dips significantly in the front right corner.
iolosdad
8 years ago
Wow it looks amazing thanks for posting updates I wish other members would
Sally Gregory thanked iolosdad
Josephine Geeson
8 years ago
What a wonderful place - could you have all the floors concreted over and then polished/painted this would level them up but would this take away too much ceiling height? I don't know the depth of concrete you would need to prevent it cracking or breaking up with use but I'm sure a contractor will have that answer. You could also lay timber shapes and fill in with concrete so that the top edges of the timber shapes would be flush with and visible on the surface of the concrete forming interesting patterns
ingabrereton
8 years ago
Wow, you have done a huge amount and it is fabulous. Could you get round the floor dip by building a low stage for performance or a display podium over it using timber to build up from the old floor surface just like you would with an outdoor deck? It looks like a really huge job and you are doing so well with it.

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