Floors - Tile, Laminate, Wood or mix it up

[janette]

I'm starting to shop for a replacement for my carpet and having trouble deciding what I want.

I have 2 kids who are far from neat and 3 dogs, one of whom has trouble finding the dog door at times and another who thinks rain will melt his feet so accidents happen. Right now we have builder grade carpet, it is pretty gross. It has to go.

Tile is becoming more popular and I like it in the houses I've visited where it is used in most of the living areas. The large stone type is really pretty and it seems like it would be great because I wouldn't have to worry about it at all. It is not so nice on your feet though and I've heard people complain about that.

Laminate is a good option, I'd go with a higher grade so it should be pretty tough stuff. My reservations about this option are that I really don't like the way laminate feels either. I'm also not sure it wouldn't stain.

I love woods but know they wouldn't be practical for most of the house. Just visited someone recently and they had done the majority of the house in tile but had wood in the master bedroom and front rooms. I could probably do something like that but not sure I like switching floors in open areas. All of our living space is pretty open and it seems like the flow would be better if the floors all matched.

This is a house I plan to be in for several years so don't mind putting some $$ into the floors but want to do the right thing and don't want to do it again anytime soon.

Anyone have something they really like that holds up well? If you have tile do you use rugs or would they just gather dust? Anyone have tile in the dining room?

Thanks for all your suggestions.

 

[the kabuki]

We have a open type ranch floor plan. Great room has carpet-all of us love to sit on the floor so had to have something soft. A tip on carpet color-pick out one the color of sand, that way you'll never have any stains or dirt showing. you think I'm joking? I actually took some of the sand/dirt that is around my house and brought it into the store! And if you can, get the better grade of carpet, the one I have was guaranteed stain and wear resistant. Even with all the use (3 kids, 1 DH and 1 dog) it's holding up way better than the builders' grade stuff in the bedrooms. Looks newer and it's been in longer.

The great room carpet butts up against wood floors in the kitchen and marble in the foyer. I actually like it because it defines the space better. Much would depend on the size of your area you plan on doing. If the rooms are smallish then i would probably stick with only one, maybe two types of flooring. Our ranch is 2600 sq feet , so I had a bit of room to work in the 3 types of flooring. Our old home was 1900 sq ft ranch same type of open floor plan and i did laminate in the kitchen and hallways, carpet everywhere else.

Don't really care for ceramic, it's much too hard on the body. I go to SIL's house with ceramic and after 20 minutes, my ankles and legs are killing me, plus my feet are freezing. Don't have that problem with the wood-which I love.

 

[zumbergc]

Ceramic tile type floors are really, really hard on the joints. If anyone in the immediate family has any hip, knee, ankle type issues, they will feel it in their joints. Don't forget about the pets, its rough on them too!

We have ceramic in the bathrooms, and just standing there some days makes my knees hurt. We had some bath mats, and got ones that were more plush to make standing in front of the mirror less painful.

Plus, if you drop something remotely fragile on the ceramic tile, it shatters into lots of pieces.

I'm glad we have wood in the kitchen because otherwise being in the kitchen would be painful, since the floor is so hard.

 

[minkydog]

Several years ago we bit the bullet and pulled up the old carpet and vinyl and had hardwoods put in the whole first floor, kitchen included. I have never regretted it. I have three kids and a Standard poodle/ball of fire, so they are hard on any flooring. The wood looks gorgeous, is easy to clean and needs very little care. I'd never go back to vinyl and tile would just kill my knees and feet.

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

I am absolutely sold on our hardwoods.

Our last home had carpet, which seemed to get ruined so quickly. Our neighbors had big tiles, but that seemed too casual.

Our bathrooms have laminate that looks horrible. We plan to tile the floors here in the next month or two.

I have one of those OCedar dust mops that I use on the floors about every day, and I use Murphy's Oil Soap on the floors about once every couple of weeks. They really hold up well under the pressure of my three kids.

 

[dixipixi]

We have vinyl flooring throughout our house. We had to eliminate all carpet because of DS's allergies. At the time vinyl was our cheapest way to go since we had to do the entire house. We planned on changing it out room by room to hardwoods, but I love my vinyl floors! They are so easy to keep clean. We also have pets and any "accidents" clean right up and the vinyl has not stained or absorbed the smells.

My mom has hardwood in most of her house, but they just put a laminate floor in the den and she absolutely hates it! I think it's because she is used to the real hardwood and it's just not the same. This is also a room that gets a lot of traffic from outside, so that doesn't help.

I was certain that the vinyl would start wearing out after a couple of years and we would have to replace it, but it still looks like new! You may not want it all over your house, but for rooms like the laundry and bathroom it's a good choice. It stands up to moisture very well. Don't overlook it as an option. I never thought I would be so satisfied with it.

 

[chrissyk]

In our old house (open floor-plan), we replaced the checkerboard of floorings with all hardwood. It was absolutely beautiful, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat in such a situation. However, if you have 2 dogs that sometimes have accidents, this might not be a good solution for your situation.

In our present house, we replaced the checkerboard of flooring with 18" tile set on the diagonal throughout. It is beautiful, and it's probably a lot more practical for a house with pets that occasionally have accidents. Is it harder on the joints/feet than hardwood? Definitely. However, I don't find that it's unreasonably hard, and it probably fits your pet situation better.

I'm not a huge laminate fan myself. It seems less durable to me. Also, I removed some laminate flooring from this house in advance of the tile install. It wasn't even a "floated" floor, but it popped right off the subfloor with almost no effort. They had glued it down too. That seemed pretty non-durable to me.

 

[Kermit]

We installed laminate in our kitchen/nook this past January, and I'm surprised at how durable it's been. It obviously hasn't stood the test of time yet, but it has stood the test of a dog and two toddlers. Several times I've found puddles from leaking sippie cups that must have been on the floor for at least an hour, but there is no warping at all. And the day after we installed it, Jacob yanked a drawer completely off the runners and it went crashing down onto the floor with the metal runner part down. I was afraid to pick it up and look at the floor, but it was completely fine. The kids also consider dragging chairs across the floor a form of entertainment, and that hasn't left any scratches.

We installed the laminate because we were putting our house up for sale and wanted to replace the vinyl that had a lot of scratches. We installed the cheapest one we could find since we weren't going to be here for long. We never imagined it would hold up this well. I've heard horror stories from some people with higher grade, brand name laminates, but this one is great. I'd tell you what it is if I could remember. We're going to have to pull out all the carpet in our new house, if this one ever sells, and put in some other type of flooring since the baby has bad allergies, and we may end up going with this one again since we know how much we like it. We also like that it was $1.80/sq ft.

 

[Skatermom23]

When we built our new house I put hardwoods in the kitchen and while I love the way it looks, it really isn't that practical if you have young kids that spill things or dogs that "leak" on occassion. I also put a very upgraded vinyl in my master bath and it looks just like tile but it is so easy to clean. I think if I had small kids I would have put that in the kitchen as well.

 

[pattyT]

Tile is A-COLD on bare feet, B-HARD and every glass thing the kids drop WILL break (even correll), C-Slippery when wet! and D- hard on the joints...(those are the things I learned from my MIL's tile - as well as she says the grout color is crutial as hers is a painin the butt to clean!)

now I need to convince my DH of that!
We are dabating the same things for the new house...
we are deinately putting hardwood in the living room side of the great room, the the kitchen area is a great debate!
He really wants tile.
I don't.

(we figure worse case we refinish the hardwood in a few years....)
I have seen UNDER enough carpets to KNOW that I do not want them in high traffic areas! YUCK!

 

[golfgal]

My in-laws put Pergo in their kitchen about 6 years ago and they have a dog but no kids and it has held up well. We have hardwood through out the house and I love that BUT we don't have a pet.

Some friends have tile through most of their house. They have carpet in the bedrooms and in their family room, they have it mostly tiled but a section of carpet that is level with the tile under their couch and around the seating area there. That looks nice and you can still sit on the floor and watch tv if you want.

 

[Tinijocaro]

Without reading any responses, I always prefer real wood to the laminate stuff- looks classier and I can't stand the high gloss look. I always thinnk the laminate looks a bit cheesy. In general, it's much warmer looking than tile.

Jackie

I'm starting to shop for a replacement for my carpet and having trouble deciding what I want.

I have 2 kids who are far from neat and 3 dogs, one of whom has trouble finding the dog door at times and another who thinks rain will melt his feet so accidents happen. Right now we have builder grade carpet, it is pretty gross. It has to go.

Tile is becoming more popular and I like it in the houses I've visited where it is used in most of the living areas. The large stone type is really pretty and it seems like it would be great because I wouldn't have to worry about it at all. It is not so nice on your feet though and I've heard people complain about that.

Laminate is a good option, I'd go with a higher grade so it should be pretty tough stuff. My reservations about this option are that I really don't like the way laminate feels either. I'm also not sure it wouldn't stain.

I love woods but know they wouldn't be practical for most of the house. Just visited someone recently and they had done the majority of the house in tile but had wood in the master bedroom and front rooms. I could probably do something like that but not sure I like switching floors in open areas. All of our living space is pretty open and it seems like the flow would be better if the floors all matched.

This is a house I plan to be in for several years so don't mind putting some $$ into the floors but want to do the right thing and don't want to do it again anytime soon.

Anyone have something they really like that holds up well? If you have tile do you use rugs or would they just gather dust? Anyone have tile in the dining room?

Thanks for all your suggestions.

 

[mickeyfan2]

If it was for me I would do hardwood, but with three dogs I would do tile. The nails of the dogs can and will scratch the h/w floors and h/w does not like water (accident or wet dog feet).

 

[Tinks]

I'm partial to hardwood myself. It's warm, easy to clean, and most importantly it never goes out of style ...unless you do some crazy pattern or border on it.

I see that you live in Texas. Tile might be the way to go. It seems that more homes in the south (Florida, Texas..) have tile throughout and it does look great. Tile throughout a home in the midwest would look funny to me.

I also vote for not mixing it up. A home looks larger and flows better with the same flooring---like all the same carpet upstairs, all hardwood on the main level...etc

These are JMO, but I hope it helps!

 

[janette]

Great information so far. I would worry about the breakage with tile, I have lots of stuff and I already break it when I drop it on the floors I have.

Carpet is not an option, I've had better grades and I know they clean up easier but I hate the stuff. I also have allergies and the dust bothers me. I want something that when I clean it up it's really clean and there isn't more hiding under the surface.

How spill resistant is laminate? I've heard different things on that too.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

He really wants tile.
I don't.

We just put the tile laminate in our kitchen. It looks so much like tile that a friend of mind who saw it asked what the price difference was for tile vs wood floors. I told her that I have no idea since I don't have tile. She was very surprised.

OP, I wouldn't put laminate down in an area that will likely have dog accidents. I would think that a well sealed wood floor would do better (well sealed being the operative words). If you went with tile in an accident prone area, make sure you seal the grout well or you'll have issues.

We have mixed it up in our house. We have the new tile laminate in our kitchen, we have hardwood in our foyer and carpeting the rest of the main level. I do want to pull the carpeting in the living and dining rooms and put hardwood there (would then need to restain and seal the foyer).

Of course it depends on the size and layout of your home. Our last house was a little split level house and when we redid the flooring on the main level we put a wood-look laminate in that kitchen/dining/living area. Our current house has a big kitchen at the back corner of the house so different flooring looks good. Not that we couldn't have gone with the same throughout, but we didn't need to.

 

[janette]

I think I'm leaning towards doing woods in the majority and tile in the kitchen / den. The entry to the den is the main place that will have to transition in an very open area, hopefully the floor people will have some good ideas on how to make that an asset.

 

[SplshMtn99]

Tile is A-COLD on bare feet, B-HARD and every glass thing the kids drop WILL break (even correll), C-Slippery when wet! and D- hard on the joints...(those are the things I learned from my MIL's tile - as well as she says the grout color is crutial as hers is a painin the butt to clean!)

now I need to convince my DH of that!
We are dabating the same things for the new house...
we are deinately putting hardwood in the living room side of the great room, the the kitchen area is a great debate!
He really wants tile.
I don't.

(we figure worse case we refinish the hardwood in a few years....)
I have seen UNDER enough carpets to KNOW that I do not want them in high traffic areas! YUCK!

LOL, we are having the same debate. I don't want tile in the kitchen. I want to continue the hardwood to the kitchen from living & dining. Tile in the laundry, pantry, & hall to garage, & both bathrooms is enough for me.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Yes unheated tile is cold. We put undefloor heat with the tile and it is warm and cozy.

 

[bananiem]

I think T&B and I have the same floor! People always think our laminate is stone. I love it but I don't have pets. It's in our kitchen and occassionally an ice chip will get left to melt on the ground by the refrigerator. I just wipe it up and haven't noticed any problem.
I think some people confuse laminate and vinyl. When I tell people it's laminate they always reach down and feel it. Installing laminate was cheaper than hardwood but more than a high end vinyl.
Did I mention I LOVE my laminate floor?