And here are some after I finished it with 5 coats of polyurethane.

It's hard to tell if it's epoxy or hydraulic cement or just a skim coat.

Hey Tyron,I didn't end up buying the house, but I was going to leave it as-is and give it a fresh coat of paint (or two).I came across a post that recommended that I wash the shingles down first to remove dirt and mildew and then prime the shingles with an exterior acrylic primer.

I now see the plywood coating on their website.  

There is some tape that can be purchased at Ace Hardware that is coated with a really strong hardening compound. 

Should only take a half dozen coats of primer to cover up!

If you want to warm up a living room the tenants can get a great area rug designer on sale for cheap like 99 dollars and throw it down.Make sure with the tiles they are not the slippery kind with no grit to them.Those kinds can get wet and make people slip and fall.Much better to spend about 6 cents more a sq ft and get the cheap kind but they have the grip coating and not the ultra smooth slippery surface.

Get thicker skin - if you can't ignore somebody hiding behind a computer, how will you react when confronted with some of the sorts of tenants that are out there?

I would do chain link ( powder coated)  or like Florida block and stucco. 

I've painted it and it's amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do.