Does not compute. Unless you mean 1887?
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I don’t recall them in the 1970 house in Montreal either, but it’s been a while.
On the other hand, this house was built straddling a construction strike, when the builder was scrambling to complete a whole lot of houses with any labour they could get, so maybe they forgot? 
The wires from the thermostat to the furnace are a patchwork of whatever was handy, and don’t ask me about the plumbing. (I mean, it works, but OMG.)
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Maybe it’s just a residential construction thing, but the house I grew up in was built in the early 1980s and the concrete basement floor was as smooth and un-marred as a roller rink.
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With experimentation, I have to sand them right down to the concrete, otherwise the texture will show. By hand is tedious, so I pulled out the belt sander, and that worked great – for about four feet until the sandpaper gave out.
Yeah, not the right sandpaper for the job. I don’t mind a run to the store. I was out earlier, and the one thing I forgot to get was a 9V battery for the basement smoke detector, which is now in chirp mode.
Otherwise, the painted floor looks great.
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Sounds like you’re committed at this point but I was going to suggest - you could just accentuate the lines - get some contrasting paint and go for a marble effect. Might be fun. More fun than belt-sanding concrete in an enclosed space 
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It’s not the colour, the second coat covers that. It’s the smooth texture of the caulk along the cracks that stands out more than I expected.
I’d love to go for a zen garden effect, but this is a real estate paint job to make an unfinished basement glow with possibilities: nothing fancy, and … hide the cracks! 
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Well, you know - concrete is as concrete does.
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Very nice, but needs a banana for size.
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(disclosure: this is based directly on my line of work, or more accurately, one of my jobs)
Sorry for being tardy.
As @ClutchLinkey mentioned, you can avoid a lot of issues by choosing area rugs.
If it were my choice, I’d aim for hard (sealed stained concrete, ceramic or porcelain tiles, old wood, etc.) floors with removable large area rugs that can come out for cleaning. You get cleanable floors, and if you are lucky, you can pay cash-and-carry by bringing in your big rug to a professional carpet cleaning place.
A professional who I sometimes consult about such things warns to never ever buy a rug or carpet that has a glued-on backing, because glues age, turn into dust, the carpet can’t be fully cleaned, forever. Plus: it’s the dead giveaway of a cheaper rug. Avoid, if possible.
You want a carpet or rug that looks like this on its underside–see the weave? no backing? yes:
I am right in the middle of a renovation project, and flooring is a big ol’ topic. Since the words “toxic chemicals” is now out in the open, I encourage to dive into some indoor air quality (IAQ) studies re conventional carpeting (i.e. glues, petroleum-based fibers, backing, padding, etc.) The tl;dr=you can do better than live with fire retard dust, microplastics, all while ranching dust mites and more.
You can avoid child labor issues by looking for the Rugmark tag:
As @anon48584343 mentions, natural fibers are best.
I’d avoid natural rubber [latex] because it oxidizes over time, becomes crumbly, dusty, etc. Opt for a natural latex rug pad that is separate, and can be composted once it gets too funky to use.
Btw re recycled soda bottle plastics, I’d say skip it. Antimony is a known hazard as the “fibers” degrade. Most dust inside our houses is antimony:
Before I alienate whoever may be doubting the need for us to abandon “unnatural” flooring like carpets made of petroleum, pads made of petroleum, and more, offgassing endlessly and creating habitat for mold and worse inside our often-sealed houses, let me argue that
… and if one is considering flooring options, ask the following questions about the home’s occupants:
- anyone resident here who has asthma?
- is under the age of, say, 18, and still growing some good lung tissue for adulthood?
- is pre-pubescent and likely to benefit from avoiding endocrine disruptors?
- is of child-bearing age, or is pregnant?
- is predisposed to having a heart attack?
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822
Not paranoid.
Everyone has their limits.
In the interest of getting first-hand data, when I moved into my partner’s home, I ripped out all the wall-to-wall carpeting. All of it. That’s less time dusting, and frankly, a much faster and more thorough housecleaning with less effort. We drag our rugs to a local carpet cleaner, when I beg them to use the free-and-clear no-scent soap, because their usual soaps make my throat sore.
ETA: grammar
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Stairway to Cream
A second coat in one bit later tonight, and that’ll be 2/3rds of the basement done. Then, schlep all the boxes and stuff out of the non-painted area, and continue.
The belt-sanded caulk hides well, and I keep rolling paint over the other ones and they’re becoming less visible.
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I have Marmoleum sheetgood on my floors here right now.
It’s not ideal if you have pets with claws, humans wearing stilettos (not applicable to my crew), or very very heavy furniture. Yea verily even with coasters (really nice coasters made of metal and felt), there are some marks. Here are some ferociously pitted, gouged marks on our Marmoleum floor left behind by furniture.
Works great in hospitals where everything is on rubber wheels, folks mostly have rubber-soled shoes, and chairs have mats or rubberized casters. Not great when heavy wood dressers only get moved once a decade.
Yes there is definitely a factory-spec process for repairing these “100 year floors” (this type of flooring has been around since the 1860s) but I currently don’t have time or budget to tackle this process.
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Huh.
Wonder if you are dealing with milk paint.
Have you perchance taken a sample of your wall surface to Benjamin Moore or Sherwin-Williams for a professional opinion on what your soon-to-be-substrate is made of?
Ahhhhh…
Still would be good to know what the heck paint is on your wall as a starting point.
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I used the modular click flooring for our kitchen (some of the same color you chose) and think it might be a little more durable than the sheet goods.
I mixed the larger (3x1’) blocks of red with the 1x1’ accent colors.
It’s been there over 8 years and is weathering pretty well.
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That’s funny, because I was thinking the exact same thing this morning. It is an odd powder texture. Which is nice to look at, and feel, but shows every bit of grime and can’t be cleaned. We have a kid. There’s a lot of grime!
Good idea to get a sample checked. The issue has taken a backseat in priority but I will definitely keep that in mind
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There’s an opportunity to embrace the whole “accent wall + berry smoothie” look and put up a big sheet of whiteboard, or heavy paper on a big roll (maybe 2 rolls, hanging above head height), at that wall, lean in and just go nuts with the art therapy thing.
More smoothies.
Beat Jackson Pollock at his own game.
Your kid may be the next Artemisia Gentileschi or Georgia O’Keeffe.
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