Extreme budget flooring??

[elfgirl19]

My husband and I are currently super poor (students), inherited a house (huge miracle), the house was falling apart (goodbye small savings), and now the house is mostly liveable.

Mostly.

The kitchen floor is disgusting: limestone blocks covered in uncleanable shards of old screed and paint. It causes mold, stinks, and resists any attempt to clean it. I hate it with my whole soul. I despise having to wear shoes in my kitchen.

Floorers want at least £3000 to fix it up. I don't even have £200 to my name and there is no asking family or getting into debt (already applied for a home improvements loan and got rejected for not having enough credit history and a very low income).

I can't leave our kitchen floor like this because we have toddlers about and it's not sanitary.

My ideas:

. Craft epoxy resin (saw someone on YouTube do it)
. Epoxy paint
. Dynamite

FYI: I cannot express how much I DO NOT CARE about ruining the quality of the stone. The previous owners already did that with screed and paint.

As as temporary measure I would,
Clean and remove any loose debris thoroughly,
Apply a levelling mixture (see photo from Screwfix), it may be in two parts - powder and a liquid.
Then paint with a floor paint. (Many colours available)

I would probably just put cheap laminate down. It’s easy enough to do yourself, just put foam underlay and add the basic laminate clicked together. You just need a cutting knife to cut the cheap boards as they are thin.
It will be far warmer than just painting floor.

https://www.diy.com/departments/goodhome-gladstone-dark-wood-effect-laminate-flooring-1-996m-/1717667_BQ.prd

something like this. £18 for 2m2. If your kitchen is 10m2 ( that’s a fair size), then it’s £100. Less obviously if smaller.
its 8mm so actually pretty thick and would be good with toddlers.
Add foam underlay (that’s cheap)

What's under the limestone? I'd be concerned about putting flooring over it, as that can exacerbate damp issues. I speak from experience - most of my house is built with limestone. Never again 😭

Can you post a photo of the floor? Maybe it will help us understand how bad it is and what the practical options might be.

We are renovating but are taking our time doing it so don’t get into debt and even though our downstairs isn’t finished, we wanted flooring but it could take another year or two for the rooms to be finished so we’ve gone for cheapest herringbone vinyl we could find (then bought rugs for warmth ) which even though was the cheapest (only costing a couple of hundred - I live in the midlands) it looks great , you could do this in all your rooms and buy rugs when you can afford them, could this be a possibility or do you need cheaper?

Search your local Facebook to see if they have any 'stuff for free' groups, also there's a community online called 'freecycle', you'll find them if you google. People frequently give flooring away for free when they upgrade, even if it's Lino offcuts that you patch together it'll do while you can't afford anything else. I've currently got a huge stack of laminate waiting for me to lay once I've finished renovating my kitchen, all for free. Good luck !

I have limestone tiles on my bathroom floor - they are badly damaged but we have stabilised them so they no longer wobble. I intend to paint them with this stuff and then put a rug down.
rustoleumcolours.co.uk/ceramic-floor-tile-paint-matt-finish-hessian/?sku=SHDRCT3107&utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping%20feed&utm_content=free%20google%20shopping%20clicks&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzva1BhD3ARIsADQuPnXTyS2ah3l1m--E4h6YiNBAbRPPRYZLGWuBxKbyBfDW4tf83k0TGuEaAuI3EALw_wcB

It sounds like something you can't lay laminate on top of. You need to remove it
it its damp and smells. Levelling compound would obviously seal it but you need to be able to do the entire floor, right up to the walls so what about where there are kitchen cabinets? I really wouldn't try and do a cheap quick fix with this.

Can you add a photo?

This!
The levelling mixture should dry overnight if you put it down before you go to bed.
I also bought cheap self adhesive tiles from B&Q as a quick fix, they look great, easy to lay, if you go down this route I slightly heated the glue with a hairdryer to make them extra sticky

Lino? As in vinyl on a roll
You can order it online and install it yourself. If there are damp issues then you can remove it pretty easily. I don't think it would cost more that £100 unless you have huge rooms

Stick some vinyl flooring over it. Just fill gaps and any grouting and then stick it down. It's quite cheap.

I wonder what such floor looks like

Yes this...would definitely be the easiest option.

I'd put vinyl on it. Its not that hard with a sharp knife, you can get off cuts quite cheaply and you don't have to glue it down. As others have said, if its damp I would be loathe to put paint or laminate down, and I def wouldn't put epoxy on a damp surface