[Maibaa]

Originally Posted by matizcrazy

What can you suggest as a way to make this place look reasonably modern yet economical?
Looking for the sasta, sundar and tikau solutions. Thanks in advance

What about engineered wood or laminated flooring? I guess you can get it installed over existing tiles.

[One]

Originally Posted by matizcrazy

Floors:- The floors are mosaic but of the darker shade. Laying of vitrified tiles is not allowed because of the breaking involved. Tile on tile is not a familiar topic with our tile layers and needs special skills. I am wondering if vinyl tiles are a good option.

Bathrooms:- Old, dark, porous stone tiles on the floor and kota stone on the walls. I am exoring PU paints for both.

Kitchen:- Kota stone on the counter top and mosaic flooring. Looks ancient.

Breaking of tiles etc is not allowed.

What can you suggest as a way to make this place look reasonably modern yet economical?
Looking for the sasta, sundar and tikau solutions. Thanks in advance

For home flooring: You can go ahead with what you are thinking in terms of those linoleum sheets (I think it is also called Vinyl flooring that you mentioned). Will be done within a day, have decent life and multiple options in colours. Have had multiple people in family use it for exact situations like yours and they work well. Check Marshalls display center at Worli (Wallpaper guys) for this option. Just call to see if they still stock that though. Removing the sheet alongwith the underlying adhesive is very simple, seen it happen twice without any issue.

Bathrooms: Are you sure the floor tiles are porous? I mean that would imply that water will seep below (which might be fine only if you are on the ground floor). What we had done in our rented flat was put regular tiles on tiles of small size, not too expensive but which atleast changed the look of the bathrooms completely. No special skills required, the civil folks doing the work do this frequently. The only cons are reduction of Wall height as floors level goes higher and a potential increase of weight on the floor but that is miniscule as compared to furniture.

Kitchen: Once we put a slab of marble over Kota stone on the counter top and front facing verticals. Now obviously marble is a bad surface in terms of durability and porosity. But it was cheap and did the job we intended it to do. The cheapest Black granite is another option, definitely more durable but more expensive than the equivalent marble. Only thing here you need to take care of is if the vertical supports can take the additional weight.

Happy Independence Day....

[matizcrazy]

Originally Posted by Maibaa

What about engineered wood or laminated flooring? I guess you can get it installed over existing tiles.

It is too expensive at Rs 150 -200 per sqft given that we may move in three years.
Also our wet mopping style isn't good for wooden tiles; hence my choice of Vinyl tiles which don't soak and swell with moisture.
Thanks.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by matizcrazy

We have been allotted Govt housing which is spacious but old, not recently occupied and shabby.
Floors:- The floors are mosaic but of the darker shade. Laying of vitrified tiles is not allowed because of the breaking involved. Tile on tile is not a familiar topic with our tile layers and needs special skills. I am wondering if vinyl tiles are a good option.

Bathrooms:- Old, dark, porous stone tiles on the floor and kota stone on the walls. I am exoring PU paints for both.

Kitchen:- Kota stone on the counter top and mosaic flooring. Looks ancient.

Breaking of tiles etc is not allowed.

What can you suggest as a way to make this place look reasonably modern yet economical?
Looking for the sasta, sundar and tikau solutions. Thanks in advance

Both mosaic floor and stone floors (and walls) are very sturdy. The material is at least 20mm if not 30mm thick. The easiest method is to refurbish the mosaic/stone using high end polishing machines.

There are two types of polishing machines :

1. Normal ones which use heavy weight with coarse material to eat up the material fast. This is used for preparing the surface and get rid of undulations.

2. "Italian" polishing machines. These have very fine grinding stones and give you a mirror finish both on stone and mosaic after three to four passes of successive finer grits.

Rest assured that once the surfaces (mosaic, granite, Kota or marble) is polished to mirror finish you will be amazed at the transformation.

If you have apprehension, let me tell you that in our house the ground floor has mosaic and rest of the house Kota Stone. We got them polished after 20 years once and are due to a second round after 25 years. Nothing beats the surface after polishing properly (it is so slippery that you have to be careful while walking for at least a month).

Just get a good contractor who deals in stone polishing and get the floors, walls and counter tops polished. The results are eye opening, and I am saying this from personal experience.

WARNING
What ever you do do not ever get a mirror polish in the bathrooms. It is best to to get a coarse finish. The reason is that most of the accident; especially with elderly; happen in the bathrooms and I know a lot of cases of brocken hip bones.

[matizcrazy]

Originally Posted by One

For home flooring: You can go ahead with what you are thinking in terms of those linoleum sheets.

Bathrooms: Are you sure the floor tiles are porous? I mean that would imply that water will seep below (which might be fine only if you are on the ground floor).

Kitchen: Once we put a slab of marble over Kota stone on the counter top. The cheapest Black granite is another option.

Happy Independence Day....

A very Happy Independence Day to all Bhpians.

I think I will try the granite option for the kitchen. The bathroom floor is not porous but very coarse. Funny thing is that I have spoken to three contractors and they were not sure of tile on tile. Will speak to more.
Thanks.

Originally Posted by Aroy

Both mosaic floor and stone floors (and walls) are very sturdy. The material is at least 20mm if not 30mm thick. The easiest method is to refurbish the mosaic/stone using high end polishing machines.
Rest assured that once the surfaces (mosaic, granite, Kota or marble) is polished to mirror finish you will be amazed at the transformation.

WARNING
What ever you do do not ever get a mirror polish in the bathrooms. I know a lot of cases of brocken hip bones.

I will take your advise and speak to the mosaic polish guys for a demo. If it can really transform the present condition, it would be money well spent.

Thanks for the detailed response.

[condor]

Help needed regarding uPVC windows with mosquito mesh:

I am looking for a uPVC window with mosquito mesh, but the mesh must have a latch. If any of you have this type installed, please share pics of the mesh frame and the latch on this frame

Thanks !

[Akshay6988]

Guys, I happened to check the sintex water tank yesterday, and I was horrified to see the muddy water. I could see sediments on the bottom of the tank. I really want to clean the tank thoroughly, get the water as clean as possible. Any suggestions on how to do this? Can I do this on myself or are there any professionals who do this type of work ?
Any suggestions are welcome.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

Guys, I happened to check the sintex water tank yesterday, and I was horrified to see the muddy water. I could see sediments on the bottom of the tank. I really want to clean the tank thoroughly, get the water as clean as possible. Any suggestions on how to do this? Can I do this on myself or are there any professionals who do this type of work ?
Any suggestions are welcome.

Would suggest you hire a professional tank cleaner, will be equipped with a wet/dry vacuum cleaner and a pressure wash.
Googling would throw up several service providers around your area.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

I really want to clean the tank thoroughly, get the water as clean as possible.

Is this the overhead tank? If so, you should also consider cleaning the tank from where the water is sourced/pumped to the overhead tank first. If it's from an underground sump, get that cleaned first or get them cleaned together. If the source is dirty then even if you clean the overhead tank, it will get muddy again.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

Guys, I happened to check the sintex water tank yesterday, and I was horrified to see the muddy water. I could see sediments on the bottom of the tank. I really want to clean the tank thoroughly, get the water as clean as possible. Any suggestions on how to do this? Can I do this on myself or are there any professionals who do this type of work ?
Any suggestions are welcome.

There are two methods

1. Get professional tank cleaners. They use a recirculating pump to filter the sediments from water. The water is circulated for quite a few a few passes.

2. Get the tank cleaned manually. The person just empties out the water and then using mop and water cleans the whole tank. This is just similar to cleaning cooking vessels at home, just at a much larger scale.

As some one has suggested, clean the source tank first other wise the dirty water will mess up the over head tank.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Aroy

2. Get the tank cleaned manually. The person just empties out the water and then using mop and water cleans the whole tank. This is just similar to cleaning cooking vessels at home, just at a much larger scale.

A guy with a sponge is how we clean our overhead tanks. Same with our underground sump, except on a larger scale, and it takes us over ten days to empty it with the supply turned off.

Sending people into tanks always worries me: one hears too many stories of death and disaster --- but I think the problem is mostly with septic tanks, where poisonous gasses may be found. One still has to consider oxygen depletion.

[matizcrazy]

Does anyone have an experience with polyurethane paints for bathroom floors and walls ?
I watched some videos on YT where these paints are used in wet weather areas.
This could be an economical option for a temporary accommodation like a rented place or Govt accommodation.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by matizcrazy

Does anyone have an experience with polyurethane paints for bathroom floors and walls ?

It's probably more habit and psychology that leads us to always use ceramics for bathrooms. I expect paints could handle it: they handle being put on the outside of buildings! What they might not handle so well is being cleaned with a scouring pad. People do stuff like that in bathrooms.

For floors, there are floor paints that are made for the job.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

It's probably more habit and psychology that leads us to always use ceramics for bathrooms..

I think it is about being able to wash the walls and floor to remove all that muck and soap scum that accumulates. Will paints safely take these bathroom cleaners like ceramic does ?

[matizcrazy]

Thanks Thad and Condor for your comments.
Given the circumstances, I am constrained to find a Non Tile solution for the floors and walls of the bathroom / toilet.
PU paints seems to be the only choice I can find; I will have to avoid scouring the surfaces and use a gentler method to deal with the grime and mold.

Do you think I could use adhesive to fix stone tiles on my existing kitchen countertop ? I have to find solutions for the kitchen and bathrooms soon.