Flooring options and opinions

[lucigo]

We just bought a 2 story house south of Richmond. The main floor has the stairs in the middle with a living room, dining room, kitchen/eat in area behind stairs, and family room (so broken up into 5 squares basically). Off the family room is a deck leading out to what will soon be an above ground pool.

Currently we have vinyl sheet flooring in the kitchen/eat in and hall, and carpet in the family, living and dining rooms. I want it all gone! Carpet is always dirty and vinyl sheet is easy to keep clean but looks really cheap.

So...I need something that will be water resistant as we will have to walk in from the backyard, through the family room, hall and up the stairs in our wet suits, not ideal but a fact.

1. Laminate: My husband laid this in our FL house and some of it had to be replaced right away after Ivan, and other parts wore down due to office chairs sliding around, and then there was the big gouge the movers left. All in all we aren't fans. However, as far as look and price this would be my choice.

2. Ceramic tile: Slick but resilient. I would have to go with a large tile I think to look nice, 18" maybe. It would be a bear to lay.

3. Groutable vinyl tile. This is what we did in FL, and it held up wonderfully, was easy to lay, not too slick. The downside is, I hope to go back to our FL house eventually and don't want this house to be hard to sell due to having a less desirable product in it. (Although IMO its better than carpet).

So thats where I stand. I would very much appreciate opinions!

 

[pryncess527]

Because of the pool, I'd say ceramic tile. I might try to add a carpet runner up the stairs

I'll also add, I saw some ceramic tile at Lowes this weekend that looked remarkably like wooden planks. If you like the look of wood but need something water resistant, that might be a good way to go. I was really impressed with how nice it looked, not fake at all.

 

[lucigo]

Because of the pool, I'd say ceramic tile. I might try to add a carpet runner up the stairs

I'll also add, I saw some ceramic tile at Lowes this weekend that looked remarkably like wooden planks. If you like the look of wood but need something water resistant, that might be a good way to go. I was really impressed with how nice it looked, not fake at all.

I have seen that at Lowes also, interesting stuff!

 

[Darcy03231]

I would do ceramic tile in the kitchen/hall/bath (if there is one) and laminate in the other rooms. I have ceramic tile in my kitchen, hall and powder room (all the same) and hardwood floors throughout the rest of the house.

I think it would be hard for resale if you did all tile.

 

[kirstenb1]

This is a hard question, because I live in the Richmond area too, so know what you'd need for resale.

I wish you didn't need to worry about resale, because I'd choose a gorgeous tile. But it gets so much colder here than Florida, I'm not sure it's a good choice for potential buyers. I don't think I've ever walked into a Richmond house with all tile.

Years ago, we did Pergo laminate flooring in the upstairs of our garage. Way back then, you weren't supposed to put it in kitchens or bathrooms, because you couldn't get it wet.

If laminate flooring has changed, I'd go with a wood-look laminate. I agree about the carpet. Most people looking in the Richmond area are going to want hardwood first, but a good laminate would be a decent choice.

 

[Happyjen27]

Of the 3 choices I would go with tile because it's a higher end product.

However, I agree with the PP, you might have trouble selling a house in Richmond so laden with tile, given the climate.

I would go with hardwoods.

People aren't animals, they aren't going to drag through your home all soggy and get everything wet. People will dry off, linger around the pool as they relax, and be respectful of your home. You will also, presumably, have area rugs around, and during pool parties put a runner down from the door to the bathroom for kids who are in quick need. We have a pool and our friends have always been respectful to keep our home dry, even with young kids all over the place.

I would not let an above ground pool (in itself undesirable for resale) dictate flooring choices in a home.

 

[lucyem]

If laminate flooring has changed, I'd go with a wood-look laminate. I agree about the carpet. Most people looking in the Richmond area are going to want hardwood first, but a good laminate would be a decent choice.

This would be my vote, though I personally prefer some tile for kitchen & bath for ease of cleaning and more durability.

Don't underestimate the power of throw rugs and runners. They can do a great job protecting the floor in busy parts of the house.

 

[lucigo]

This is a hard question, because I live in the Richmond area too, so know what you'd need for resale.

I wish you didn't need to worry about resale, because I'd choose a gorgeous tile. But it gets so much colder here than Florida, I'm not sure it's a good choice for potential buyers. I don't think I've ever walked into a Richmond house with all tile.

Years ago, we did Pergo laminate flooring in the upstairs of our garage. Way back then, you weren't supposed to put it in kitchens or bathrooms, because you couldn't get it wet.

If laminate flooring has changed, I'd go with a wood-look laminate. I agree about the carpet. Most people looking in the Richmond area are going to want hardwood first, but a good laminate would be a decent choice.

Most of the houses we looked at had laminate ($200-240K range). Some I even had to actually look closer at to tell if they were hardwood or laminate. We saw a lot more vinyl roll type flooring than I expected to see. My main problem is that the path from the pool goes through the back door into the family room and hall to the stairs. A 2nd story deck and entrance is only a dream. LOL

I could tile the bathroom, kitchen and hall, but we still have a very high traffic strip through the family room I have to figure out. The dogs are already ruining the carpet there.

 

[lucigo]

Of the 3 choices I would go with tile because it's a higher end product.

However, I agree with the PP, you might have trouble selling a house in Richmond so laden with tile, given the climate.

I would go with hardwoods.

People aren't animals, they aren't going to drag through your home all soggy and get everything wet. People will dry off, linger around the pool as they relax, and be respectful of your home. You will also, presumably, have area rugs around, and during pool parties put a runner down from the door to the bathroom for kids who are in quick need. We have a pool and our friends have always been respectful to keep our home dry, even with young kids all over the place.

I would not let an above ground pool (in itself undesirable for resale) dictate flooring choices in a home.

I think my husband would prefer to lay hardwood at least in the family room. Hopfully we can find a product that is easy to do and not too expensive. You make a good point, I'm willing to spend $7K on a pool (because we can't live without one!) then does it really matter?

One thing about ceramic...I did go into houses that had ceramic tile that looked dated and overwhelming to think about replacing, and that was a real turn off, so to put something so permanent into a house might be a concern.
However...I really want to do a glass tile backsplash in the kitchen LOL

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I'm not sure why you think grouted vinyl tile is not desirable. We have it in our kitchen and family room (Armstrong Alterna luxury tile) and not only is it beautiful, it's easy to clean and maintain. We had considered ceramic tile, but the flooring store steered us away from it and I'm glad we listened to them!

We did a glass tile backsplash ourselves in the kitchen and it looks great.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

.......

People aren't animals, they aren't going to drag through your home all soggy and get everything wet. People will dry off, linger around the pool as they relax, and be respectful of your home.

.............

 

[lucigo]

I'm not sure why you think grouted vinyl tile is not desirable. We have it in our kitchen and family room (Armstrong Alterna luxury tile) and not only is it beautiful, it's easy to clean and maintain. We had considered ceramic tile, but the flooring store steered us away from it and I'm glad we listened to them!

We did a glass tile backsplash ourselves in the kitchen and it looks great.

I love it! We put it in our kitchen, dining room, family room and office in Florida and it has held up for more than 4 years and looks great. People don't even know its not "real" tile if I don't tell them. I will probably go with that in our kitchen/eat-in area here as its an upgrade to the vinyl sheet flooring and warmer than ceramic tile, and cheaper and easier to cut....and I'm pretty much an expert on installing it.

Just worried about resale value if we were to put it in the family room, front entrance, etc. But then...it took me MONTHS to find a house with a nice big flat privacy fenced backyard suitable for my dogs and a pool that would get direct sunlight...so maybe someone else will want that too!

I have no idea how long we will live here. My heart is still in Florida (as is my oldest child!)

 

[lucigo]

People aren't animals, they aren't going to drag through your home all soggy and get everything wet. People will dry off, linger around the pool as they relax, and be respectful of your home. You will also, presumably, have area rugs around, and during pool parties put a runner down from the door to the bathroom for kids who are in quick need. We have a pool and our friends have always been respectful to keep our home dry, even with young kids all over the place.
.

I will just say this hasn't been my experience.

 

[lucigo]

I'm not sure why you think grouted vinyl tile is not desirable. We have it in our kitchen and family room (Armstrong Alterna luxury tile) and not only is it beautiful, it's easy to clean and maintain. We had considered ceramic tile, but the flooring store steered us away from it and I'm glad we listened to them! We did a glass tile backsplash ourselves in the kitchen and it looks great.

Back again, which color did you choose? Do you have any pix? We did 12" tiles in Florida but I'm considering 18" tiles or a mixture of 18 and 12.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Back again, which color did you choose? Do you have any pix? We did 12" tiles in Florida but I'm considering 18" tiles or a mixture of 18 and 12.

We used this color:

http://www.armstrong.com/flooring/l...a-resilient-vinyl-tile-D4162/floor-125492.asp

The tiles are 16x16, and we had ours laid out in a diagonal pattern. I don't remember the grout color name, but it's slightly lighter than the tiles. It looks great and is very easy to take care of.

 

[lucigo]

We used this color:

http://www.armstrong.com/flooring/l...a-resilient-vinyl-tile-D4162/floor-125492.asp

The tiles are 16x16, and we had ours laid out in a diagonal pattern. I don't remember the grout color name, but it's slightly lighter than the tiles. It looks great and is very easy to take care of.

Thanks, there is a place close by where I can go take a look.

 

[bethy]

We put in decent quality wood-looking porcelain tile in our family room and it looks awesome! Cozy and warm looking like wood, but durable like tile. We chose grout that is the same color so it looks like a wood floor (whereas contrasting grout wouldn't as much.) We did long and wide "planks". And it isn't to slippery because it has a slight texture plus flecking to hide dirt.

To top it off we have radiant heating beneath it and that has been the final detail that has given us all of the benefits of tile and few of the drawbacks. It takes the chill off when set at a low temp and heats the whole room when desired if set at a higher temp!

We live in a very modest 1800 sq ft split level - so not a fancy house. It has been the perfect flooring for us as a busy family with young children, dogs and a frequently muddy backyard.