Several years ago, we used reversible foam floor mat’s to cushion our basement floor. We did this for several reasons. First, our basement is several degrees cooler than the main floor of the house. We didn’t particularly want to walk on that concrete. Second, when my Sister-in-Law visits, she generally sleeps on a mattress that is placed on the floor in the basement (no- we don’t have a frame for it). Putting it directly on the concrete would make for quite an uncomfortable sleeping arrangement.
Anyway, having the foam flooring on our basement floor has worked out great. The kids play down there, and everyone that comes over comments on “what a great idea” it was.
Fast forward to January.
Sister was diagnosed with asthma last year, due to a chronic cough that was unrelieved by anything other than asthma medications, and she is a cold weather reactor. So, when winter set in, and we had to kick on the heat, we noticed that her coughing increased quite a bit, and had to start up her breathing treatments, which were twice a day. Yes, I said were.
See, the previous owner of our home had dogs. And apparently, Sister’s bedroom is where the dogs were kept when she worked. The ONLY time you could EVER tell that there had been a dog in our house is when the heat kicks on, and then an area of the carpet in that room had a very faint (but still present) dog or dog urine odor, despite having had the carpets cleaned several times. It happens to be the area over which Sister’s bed was. And when the heat kicked on, her cough kicked in.
Hubs and I have talked about doing hard flooring throughout our home to cut down on airborne allergens- whether hardwood, laminate, tile, whatever- in light of Sister’s asthma since getting rid of carpet is recommended to help reduce asthma triggers. But, it just isn’t in the budget right now. After talking about it for several days, we decided to pull up the carpet in Sister’s room and replace it with the foam flooring until we can have all of the floors done at once.
This is what it looked like before…
a work in progress…
I have to confess, Hubs did all of the work. He pulled up the carpet, the padding, measured and cut the foam squares, and everything!
I have to say, he did a fine job! Just look at the finished room…
The funny thing is, after we removed the carpet and installed the foam flooring, we noted a remarkable reduction in Sister’s cough. In fact, within about a week, she had stopped coughing indoors altogether, and would only start coughing when out in the cold weather. Since then, we were able to stop Sister’s routine breathing treatments (with pediatrician’s approval, of course), and now she only has to do breathing treatments as needed–she’s had TWO since the middle of January!
SCORE!
It has now been nearly two and a half months since we replaced the carpeting with the foam, and we love it. The mats are child safe, waterproof (so they protect the floor underneath), flame retardant (very important), anti-slip, shock absorbent, and clean easily with soap and water. The only thing I have noticed is that they are not on speaking terms with the vacuum, as it does leave marks on them if I use it in there. So, I sweep if needed.
We plan to do Mister’s room next.
You can find multi-purpose foam floor squares on Amazon.com.
Please note- we paid for the foam squares out of our own pocket!
Crystal says
Neat idea.
We used to use foam flooring when our kiddos were smaller in their play area.
Janessa says
I’m considering using this in the playroom of our new house. Looks like it would be pretty functional – is it easy to replace the individual pieces if you need to?
Virginia says
Janessa- we didn’t have any trouble replacing one when needed. V
blueviolet says
That is such a great solution, and I’m really happy that it seems to be making a difference. Yay for the hubs doing the work!
Michelle jadaa says
So glad it worked.We have the same flooring in our basement for the exercise area it works great 🙂
Virginia says
Michelle- we have it under our elliptical, too, and it is wonderful!
Tammy says
So glad Sister is feeling better, and she doesn’t need the breathing treatments so often.
Christi says
GREAT idea! I never would have thought of that. Glad to hear it’s working to make your daughter feel better!
Julia says
What a great idea! I have been tempted to do the same in the kids room to protect the current floors from kid related damage.
1stopmom says
What a good idea! Especially with all the pros.My daughter has problems with coughing too. Your hubby did a good job!
HilLesha says
Very nice! 🙂
Crazy Mom says
This is too cool….
Nina Say says
I love those foam pads! Our daughter has some, and she loves building little houses out of them! I love what you did.
Carmen says
Glad to hear she is doing better. Room looks great!
Shasta says
That would have been a pain, but it was a great idea! Glad you got it taken care of!@
Miriam T. says
What a creative and resourceful idea! It’s definitely tough when pet stains have stained the carpet padding – almost impossible to get out.
Sarah from Minnesota Mama's Must Haves says
This would be perfect for our playroom. Right now we have old carpet in there and this would be way better!
Ellie says
What a great idea!!! This would be great for a playroom.