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red gard, don’t leave home without it…

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…or at least don’t redo your floors in wet areas without it.

As we continue to make the final push with the new floors throughout the house (the end is in sight!), I thought I’d share a quick little flooring tip with y’all today. It has to do with a lovely product called Red Gard that my general contractor father told us about when we were redoing the hall bathroom, WAY back in March.

This is a product that will essentially create a waterproof barrier for you, and you can put it virtually wherever and on whatever you want. It’s commonly used when you’re tiling shower walls or in similar applications, but my father suggested using it on the floor in front of the bathtub since water has a tendency to pool there (especially with little kids!). Since we knew there had been mildew and mold issues in the past (one of the reasons why we needed to replace to floors asap!!), we were completely on board for taking extra precaution. My parents always taught me- if you’re going to do a job, do it right! One of the great things about Red Gard is that it goes on bright pink, and once it’s dry, it turns red (hence the name) so it’s pretty easy to figure out. 

Another great thing about it is that a little goes a long way, so we still had tons after using it for our hall bathroom makeover and we decided to use it in certain areas in the kitchen as well. So in the bathroom, we painted it onto the hardiebacker board, but in the kitchen we painted it directly onto the subfloor. We used it in the refrigerator nook and in front of the sink and dishwasher, just in case of overflows, major spills, or leaks. When we removed the old flooring from the refrigerator nook we actually discovered some slight water damage to the subfloor, so we were glad that we took the extra step and painted on some Red Gard.
By the way, I do not recommend doing this while pregnant (I left this up to the men!) and doing it in a well-ventilated area because it is VERY noxious.

PS- I am so very thankful for all the men and women that have fought and are fighting for our country! I hope you all have a wonderful Veteran’s Day!

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