Hardwood vs. laminate vs. ceramic flooring

[Denine]

What do you like best and why?

 

[Nutsy]

We have cork tiles & really like them. They are not cold like ceramic, nor do they echo. They do not get all tacky like lino either.

We would really like to pull up the carpet in the lounge & dining rooms one of these days & put down a floating timber floor.

 

[Jeafl]

Depends on the room. We have hardwood in the foyer, hallway, powder room, office/sunroom and dining room. We have ceramic in the kitchen and upstairs baths which I like for those rooms.

 

[joshsmom]

My sister has ceramic tile throughout her first floor and it is absolutely beautiful. BUT, it is SO cold--always!!! Even in the heat of the Midwest summer, that tile is COLD!!!

 

[Tinks]

I prefer hardwood and this is the reason: It never goes out of style....provided, I guess, that you don't get an extremely light or extremely dark wood or a crazy blend of wood. Any ceramic, no matter what color or size, will eventually be out of style for that reason- the color or size. It is costly to replace tile.

Laminate??? I think the real thing lasts longer and sells better than a laminate.

These are just my opinion. For a long term purchase, go with hardwood.

 

[shortbun]

I'm with Tinks! My whole house including the kitchen is
hardwood. Easy to clean, holds up for at least 90 years -
the age of my house with just one sanding and top coat.
Warmer than tile, show off beautiful rugs or stand alone
nicely.

 

[Christine]

I, too, am in agreement with Tinks. Classic hardwood never goes out of style. Tile size and color definitely changes--sort of like bathroom fixtures and appliances (one year "almond" is then, then it's "white", then it's stainless, etc.). I feel the same way about tile. I think if you put some tile in, then in 10 years you could easily have a home that looks very dated.

I have hardwoods throughout my house except the bathrooms which are ceramic. I was a little worried about the hardwoods in the bedrooms because I thought they would be cold but they are actually very warm. And the house appears so "clean" now that I've had the carpet removed.

As far as laminates go--I hate 'em. I have not been in one home where I think it looks good and I would not buy a house with them (or I would rip it up). I have seen the Pergo used in businesses and it doesn't bother me there.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

We love the hardwood... but in the kitchen and bathrooms we went with ceramic tile. We don't care what's in "style" - we went with what we liked. If we ever sell, the buyer can redo it however they wish.

 

[Pluto2003]

hate grout, have had tiles crack after installed, I dream of hardwood floors........

 

[RUDisney]

I would have hardwood in every room. My entire first floor is hardwood... formal living room, dining room, kitchen, bar room and family room. The hallway on the second floor is HW as is our master br. We've already promised the kids that they can have HW when their carpets need replacing. I'd even put it in the bathrooms. We have tile in them and I hate cleaning them. They look nice, but grout.... oh, the grout! Dirt seeks it out and lives there.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Currently we have "builders grade" carpet and we are deciding on what we are going to replace it with. It has been only 3 yrs and we trashed the carpet.

We have a 2-story and have decided to put hardwood throughout the entryway & family room. Carpet in the 2 front rooms (cut down the cost) and a tile-looking Pergo in the kitchen (again cost), bathroom, & laundry room. There is no TEXTURE which will make clean up easy.

I don't do tile as I DO NOT want to clean grout or maintain it. We decided Hardwood for our high traffic areas because we would just ruin any carpeting we laid down.

I would hardwood ALL of my floors if I could afford it.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

We put down Durastone in our front entry, hallway & washroom. I really wanted to do laminate hardwood - but after researching I discovered that it won't hold up well if it gets wet. The Durastone looks like ceramic or stone but is put down with adhesive and no grout. Looks good and will wear longer than any vinyl flooring.

 

[ZachnElli]

I guess I'm the oddball! We have lots of hardwood floors and I hate them, lol. They just get banged up so easily and it's so costly to have them sanded down and refinished. I'd have marble if I could!

 

[arminnie]

Be careful about buying new hardwood - there's a lot of inexpensive stuff out there that is really only a very thin veneer of hardwood - it cannot be refinished over and over like the old thicker hardwoods.

I had hardwood in a 50 year old house about 20 years ago. The finishes back then were not so hot and my dogs paws scratched it up badly. I think there are finishes out there today that hold up better.

I had a very light Pergo (birch) in my kitchen, dining room and living room in California when I lived on the water and loved it. It held up very well and looked good.

I have about a thousand square feet of tile in my current house and while it looks ok - it is very hard to keep clean and it is treacherous when wet.

 

[mckryan]

Unfortunately, those of use that don't have a basement can't go with traditional hardwoods. We have engineered hardwoods (thin veneer over plywood), and they dent and scratch soooo easily. Love the look, hate that they are getting ruined by my clumsiness and my dog's nails, no matter how short I keep them. You can refinish them, but it takes someone who's an expert because if they sand too much, the wood is completely gone. I'm not sure what we'll replace them with when the time comes.

With everyone talking about cleaning floors, I just have to post a rave for my favorite cleaning tool - the Hoover FloorMate. I wouldn't be without it! It's great for tile, vinyl, sealed hardwoods, etc. It's been worth every penny I paid for it.

 

[aprilgail2]

I have ceramic in the kitchen and dining room and I really like the ceramic there. I wouldn't like it in my living room though. I have hardwood in the rest of the house. I HATE laminates. they just look so fake, I would never put them in my house.

 

[Alice28]

Huh, call me another oddball....we did this debate 2 summers ago---laminate or hardwood. We talked with a professional installer about it- we had the money to spend, but we took our lifestyle in consideration. We have two young boys, at the time we had a german shephard dog and the hardwood could easily have gotten dinged up and ruined..so we got the top of the line Pergo. Not the stuff you can buy at Costco or even home Depot- this was bought at a contractor's store and cost about $2500 for 900 square feet (our downstairs). It is a beautiful honeyed pine, with a lot of red tones in it. We have received nothing but compliments on it. The laminate is so durable, and you're also less likely to break glasses or dishes on it if it falls...it cleans up super easily and we just love, love, love it. We have crummy cheap carpet on our stairs and upstairs and can't wait to change it, although we will probably stick with carpet, just a higher grade.

 

[Christine]

For those of you wondering how to clean grout--try a product called "Zap!". My DH was going to regrout our bathroom but he tried this first and said it worked wonderfully. This was on bathroom tile though, with the very thin strip of grout. I'm not sure how it would work on places where larger tiles with larger grout are.

As for hardwoods, when we first moved into our house 10 years ago, we had "builder grade" hardwood floors in the foyer, kitchen, and breakfast area. They weren't solid oak all the way through and they had two coats of polyurethane on them. They were made by Bruce. They sucked. My kitchen looked horrible within 2 years. The finish totally wore off. But I still loved the wood. So about 18 months ago, I had them ripped out and all new floors put in. I found out a lot. Floors have come a very long way in 10 years. First, don't buy a floor without a minimum of a 25 year surface warranty on them. I learned that the floor I had probably only had a 10 year warranty on it in the first place. The stuff they sell and most Home Depot's and Lowe's offer only a 15 year warranty. Expo sells the higher end stuff.

Floors made these days have 7 coats of poly now plus a layer of titanium dioxide. These are supposed to make the finish much more durable. So far, I can tell the difference. These floors are holding up much better. I do have two dogs and one of these dogs has toenails like you wouldn't believe. Yes, I have toenail scratches. If that kind of thing will bother you, then you better stay away from hardwood floors. My floors have and will continue to get "character" marks. However, the finish still remains wonderful. I also have small cracks now in many places in my ceramic tile. So, I guess every surface has its problems. But for durability, you really can't beat the laminates. I just wish they would look a little better.

 

[Denine]

Thank you all for your replies.

I currently have a laminate flooring in my kitchen and foyer. I love it. It is made by Wilsonart.

We are considering building a new home and trying to decide if we should put down hardwood or ceramic or just leave it at vinyl and install a laminate down the road. I like the idea of hardwood floors in the foyer, powder room and kitchen with ceramic in the other 2 bathrooms and laundry room.

 

[faithinkarma]

When I was redoing my floors I was told that hardwood in a bathroom or kitchen would not be covered by insurance for any water damage caused by burst pipes or such. So I went with top of the line laminate flooring which cost virtually the same as the hardwood. No one was able to tell it was not the real thing.

The downside to laminate is that, while it is pretty indestructible, if a spot is damaged, you have to replace the entire floor. However, I have only heard of this happening once when someone dropped a very heavy tool and gouged the floor.