Our New Floor
Sisterhood Agenda’s SEA: Sisterhood Empowerment Academy space for training, programming, and counseling is almost ready. The floors are the last major project before we focus our efforts on the completion punch list and welcome the public.
We originally wanted to use the plywood sub floor as the floor using a coating of polyurethane or paint. However, it became clear that it did not look or function very well for our needs. Therefore, with some help from my father, big brother, and Vincent Powell, we were able to get ceramic tiles from across the ocean (St. Thomas) that look like marble for a fraction of the price, approximatly $1 per square foot.
I soon discovered that purchasing the tiles was only the beginning of the new flooring process. The floor had to be prepared since we were warned not to put tile and mortar directly on the plywood sub floor due to expansion, contraction moisture and movement, which would result in the cracking of most of our tiles!
It was highly recommended that we use cement board on top of the plywood as a tile subfloor. However, the cost of cement board is very high, especially when we factor in the weight, trucking, and delivery of enough boards to cover over 1,000 square feet of Sisterhood Agenda space. This would be well over $1,000. We had to come up with a new, more affordable plan.
To prep the floor: we used mesh wire over the plywood and poured concrete to create the sub floor for the tile. Whew!
Since we did not have the budget to hire a team for this task, Vincent and I took it on ourselves. The change in plans and flooring process took some time, however, we have to be thorough and not rush this important step. It turned out to be a real team effort. Almost done. Thank you, Vincent!
Of course, one of our friendly SEA peacocks had to watch the whole thing, Princess Kitty, too!
