Every fall, I have a really nice man named Ken come in to completely strip, then re-polish, the vinyl floor tile in my kitchen. It is well worth it. Even using heavy duty equipment, it takes him several hours to do the floor. I think it is well worth the expense. Not only am I am getting too old to be down on my hands and knees doing this, he gets a much better shine than I ever did. So far, I know of three other readers who have used my floor — Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze — and I have photos of their kitchens, too.
I am pretty sure I spy with my little eye, Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze in Julie P.’s kitchen — uploaded last week as part of our “Finish What You Started” campaign. She gets supa-mega Gold Stars for her work, which she explains:
Kitchen undo almost finished. Cabinets stripped, wall paper off, new floor and counters. Still need to paint the trim. UGH! Before picture to follow.
– Julie P
Beautiful kitchen, Julie! Send me all your pics and your story, girl!
Janice used it in her retro kitchen renovation.
Meredith used it to replace the worn tile in her vintage kitchen.
I have had my Azrock Cortina floor for since 2006, and it looks as great as it did the day it was put in. I continue to be the #1 fan of this versatile, inexpensive, streaky retro-style, durable vinyl kitchen floor tile. This tile is $1.50 – $2.25/s.f. installed. See Autumn Haze and their other colors here.
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- Want to read more stories about flooring options: See our navigation Kitchens / Flooring here.
Have any other readers put Azrock Cortina in their kitchens?
If so, send me a photo, and I will add it to this story. 🙂
Atomic Mum says
These floors are very commen here in Australia and are great for our hot weather. I’ve seen a lot of home that use it in the whole house. We can still get it in the old styles.
Jordanna says
Atomic Mum, can you recommend a good Australian company? I only know the American ones. I’m new to Oz. I’d love a new floor though.
Mary Bailey says
Hello! The kitchen floor is getting closer and closer to the top of the remodel priority list. My local handyman store is selling me on this co. for VCT
http://www.mannington.com/commercial/Colorway.aspx?id=2117 Ever heard?
I’m looking at randomness of Cool White and New Geranium.
I do LOVE the streak of the Autumn Haze but afraid it’ll clash with the greyish white of the Ponite Countertops I have my heart set on (Cavalcade South). Any suggestions?
Thanks!
pam kueber says
yes, that company is a player, too. and yes, the autumn haze is what i’d call “warm” – not “cool”
Chutti says
Yeah-if you know what you want from online, any local place will likely order it for you. I’m a HUGE proponent of shopping (and paying taxes) locally.
I’m not going to call out any specific web site online, but getting samples (at $5 per tile fer cryin out loud!) took 4 tries over 3 months to get right with an online dealer who had a good reputation. I would have gone local in the first place, but no one had any sample kits on site.
We tried ordering from jo blows local flooring, but they didn’t have enough business to make the minimum order. Apparently AZrock doesn’t really have a good setup to deal with smaller orders, so you want to go to your best local sourse We just took a list of what we wanted to Carpeteria, they ordered it, it was ready for pickup in two weeks.
The colors are simply luscious. We love em so much we’re using the other samples for mouse pads! PURTY.
Ian says
Does anyone know of a online source for Azrock tiles?
I was going to use Armstrong,but after discovering this site a week or so ago (now I’m here daily!) I’m sold on Azrock. I ordered samples from them a couple days ago.
Azrock’s website lists only one distributor,and its about 75 miles from here-It’s worth the drive but hoping for something a little more conveinient.
pam kueber says
I went to a local flooring store. Asked for it. They got it for me, no problem. And I live in the boondocks…
Ian says
That sounds encouraging,i’ll give that a try. Thanks!
Emily says
We got Azrock tile from southcypress.com. Not Autumn Haze (although I think they have it) but we love it. 🙂
Joy says
Hi Pam! I just put in Spearmint and Cirrus Azrock Cortina tiles in my first kitchen! I laid them in a checkerboard pattern and it may be the cutest floor I’ve ever seen! I love it! I’ll send you picture if I can figure out how! 🙂 I’m still in the process of refinishing my kitchen, and am doing all of the work myself. I highly recommend this tile because it is quick and easy to install yourself.
pam kueber says
email me at retrorenovation [at] gmail [dot] com
Chutti says
Another timely story-thanks!
We are using AZrock Cortina in Chili Pepper along with a yellow and a black speckled VCT in our 1920’s kitchen. We haven’t shined it up yet, as we also still have to do our back hallway and laundry room. Want to get the big equipment in just once, ya know.
We’ve been waffling over whether we want to go the full polish route or not, but these pix have me sold. I’ve gotta try it just once.
And yes, it took us months to secure the colors we wanted. None of the dealers had samples of VCT, so we ordered several samples online-with mixed results. It was worth the wait, though, as I was firm on not wanting a pastel or a 90’s looking bright. I was set on a deep, rich retro color, ( I could only describe the red as ‘red meat color’) and that’s what we got.
We’ll have pix once we’ve gotten it all shined up.
I think one of the pastels for my pink bath will be perfect.
Thanks for another great dose of inspiration!
Betty Crafter says
Can you tell us some more about stripping and polishing? Could I do this on my VCT floors? How do you go about finding someone who does this, and how much does it cost? I’d love to get that high shine on our floors.
Thanks!
pam kueber says
Like I said, I asked my dentist’s office…BC, I think it is really going to vary in cost market-to-market. The $225 that Carrie is paying for a Stanley Steamer crew does not surprise me one bit — especially given the equipment they use.
Sorry, I didn’t get all the product info from Ken. But I’ll put this on my list — I’ll give him a call to find out.
Carrie says
Well, seeing this floor reminded me that on my “to do list” is my kitchen floor, I called around and found Stanley Steamer, which is a franchise I think, and they DID have a VCT crew. So TODAY they are coming to do an industrial several hour clean, wax, buff on my floor. It is going to set me back $200, but I have 225 square foot of VCT. I had never sealed it, and it looks awful right now. So I am going to cough up that much because I don’t own industrial buffing equipment and I figure just like cleaning my carpets I would rather some one else do it. So hopefully I can add it to Pam’s “I finally got this finished ” post she does each week. I am just really, really hoping that it is worth paying for. Of course, with 10 plus people, 2 dogs and a cat in there every single day we will see how long the wax holds up.
pam kueber says
Yup: Sometimes I just cough it up to get it done, Carrie. You gotta pick and choose what to do yourself vs. outsource. In my old house, I also had VCT in the kitchen and adjacent bathroom. I used to do the work myself. It was brutal. And, it never ever turned out as beautiful as Ken’s work….Hey, Carrie, you have my email: Can you send a report and pic when it’s done, and I’ll let other readers know whether you thought is was worth it… Hey, one thing Ken told me was, to keep the shine, only use cold water on the floor – with a bit of vinegar. No harsh cleanser, no hot water.
Carrie says
Yes, that’s what these guys said too, just cool water and mop. So far it looks nice and shiny but a bit streaky, except it is not dry and I already HAD to get in there and left Birkenstock foot prints….sigh. I will get you pics later and report back after a couple days of everyone running around on it, it will get very heavy traffic and I want to see if it stays shiny or not.
Michael says
What’s the going rate to have this kind of work done? I’d like to get the tile in our basement stripped/waxed/polished before Christmas. Great results!
Gwen says
Pam, your floor is beautiful! I moved into my 1940 colonial almost a year ago and I can’t figure out what my kitchen floor is. It’s certainly not the original floor but it’s also a material I’m not familiar with. t’s not tile and looks like it was laid in three sheets. The pattern is a green/grey marble pattern. Any idea what it might be? I have no idea how to take care of it! Thanks for your help!
pam kueber says
can you send me some pics, gwen? retrorenovation [at] gmail [dot] com