What Were They Thinking?

Terrazzo - n. A flooring material of marble or stone chips set in mortar and polished when dry.

• Outstanding durability and low maintenance
• Non-porous surface will not promote microbial growth, mold or mildew
• Exhibits little or no offgassing over the life of the cured floor.

Linoleum - n. A durable, washable material made in sheets by pressing a mixture of heated linseed oil, rosin, powdered cork, and pigments onto a burlap or canvas backing. Linoleum is used as a covering especially for floors.

• Those individuals who are extremely chemically sensitive may not want to utilize linoleum due to some (natural) outgassing from the linseed oil.
• Linoleum tends to fade after exposure to natural light and to be more susceptible to disintegration and decay, following exposure to moisture and other household products.

When we first saw this house, it had wall to wall blood-red carpeting. It was dark. It was gross. It smelled of wet dog.

I was undeterred by this because I knew that under that disgusting mess was a treasure. Built in 1963, the original flooring was solid terrazzo. Cue the angels singing because terrazzo stays cool in the summer and has all the benefits of tile without the headache of the grout. On top of that, once polished, terrazzo looks like glass.

So up came the carpet within minutes of the keys being placed in my hot little fist!

The living room was cleared, the dining room was cleared, the hallway was cleared. Cleared of the nastiness that is carpeting. I could physically feel my new house take a deep, cleansing sigh of relief.

And that's when it happened. We had reached the master bedroom. The carpet came up and there it was. The scourge that was upon my earth. Linoleum. Brown, glued down linoleum. My internal soundtrack of the heavenly choir stopped with the abruptness of a needle scratching across the vinyl. The bad news continued when we removed the carpet from what was to become my daughter's room. More brown, glued down linoleum. If possible, this linoleum was even uglier than the flooring in my bedroom.

That very week I began what has become my life's work: Scrapping linoleum off the floor. Needlesstosay, my enthusiasm quickly waned and that project was put on standby. Now I'm back at it with a vengeance and I'm getting it done! The terrazzo is appearing and best of all, the process is cheaper than therapy!

Now, if only I can find a buyer for my first born so I can have the floors professionally polished!