socks & transitions do not mix!

So I finally got what my kid has been complaining about with regard to the floors, or rather it got me.

We have laminate wood in one part of the house and travertine tile in the other.  If given the choice, not my first one with respect to flooring--the laminate, but it was here when we moved in and with limited income changing flooring was not at the top of my list when we first got here.  So we just lived with it and made do. 

The main problem is with the wooden threshold transition pieces that the builder used when this stuff was put in, they are pretty rotten.  After eight years, they are showing their wear and we are becoming victims to them, well the kid's socks are. The transition pieces have come loose over time and despite tacking them down again, it keeps happening, and then someone gets literally "nailed". Resulting in hole-in-sock, I finally had it happen and it tagged the bottom of my flip flops that I wear in the house.

In other parts of the house, the laminate is buckling at seams, I finally made peace with the fact that oak finish laminate floors just really are not something that have ever been my favorite. I think all the homes on the surrounding blocks were built with these in them, they have served their purpose.  Not to mention the resident four-legged critters have taken their toll on them too, time for a change.

After getting tagged by the transition I decided to have a look underneath it and see what I would potentially be working with.

After peeling back some laminate planks and one very thin sheet of vapor barrier, I was pleasantly surprised to find a decent concrete sub-floor. 

Um, ever see some chipped paint and you start sort of "messing with it"? Or a piece of thread sorta hanging there and you sorta mess with that?

Let's just say that me & the kid are now living with a concrete sub-floor in the living room and hallway.  A friend said that all his home "diy" stuff start out some sort of OCD, (no offense intended to anyone who is bonafide OCD), and usually late at night.

I completely understood what he meant, we are now contemplating concrete staining.

I also was not thrilled about just throwing the laminate flooring away, so I posted it on Craigslist and a really nice person whose carpeting was ruined by water damage ended up picking it up.  Always recycle where you can.