Ceramic Tile, Vinyl, Hardwood for main living area

amother

Tue, Mar 02 2021, 1:09 pm

We are doing over the main living area of the house and I would like opinions on flooring.

Vinyl is the cheapest by a few thousand dollars cuz it can just be installed over the current floor. There is zero maintenance required but if only lasts around ten years and then has to be replaced.

Hardwood. Is the most expensive yet the nicest but it requires maintenance. This is the main living area of my house and I have kids who will be playing area and I don't want to be upset when it ruined. It does last forever though and can always be refinished.

Ceramic Tile requires zero maintenance and lasts forever but its not coming in significantly cheaper than the Hardwood and Hardwood is timeless as far as style because you can always stain a different color. I know ceramic tile floors can be cold but my current floor is ceramic and I have no issue with that so thats not a factor in my decision here.

Engineered Hardwood. The labor is the same as the vinyl so that comes out cheap. It has the look and maintenance requirements of hardwood but it can only be refinished once or twice and than you have to replace.

Chayalle

Tue, Mar 02 2021, 1:17 pm

I have ceramic tile (came with the house) in kitchen, foyer, and hallways and there are cracks in the tile all over the place.

I have hardwood in my dining room that needs to be scraped.

I think if I did flooring one day (living room and family room are carpeted) I would do hardwood. Which means that's gonna take a long time (to budget) but I think would be worth it.

farmom

Tue, Mar 02 2021, 1:18 pm

I did tile (wood look). I'm very happy. The one chisaron is that it's very hard, if a glass falls it breaks, if the baby falls down it hurts. But it's so hardy, so easy to clean. No worries about scratches.
I do have underfloor heating, so it's actually warm, but you said that's not a worry for you
My mother had wood in her kitchen, and I saw how much work that was to maintain, I said I would never do that.

farmom

Tue, Mar 02 2021, 1:20 pm

Chayalle wrote:

I have ceramic tile (came with the house) in kitchen, foyer, and hallways and there are cracks in the tile all over the place.

I think there are also different qualities of tile, some crack more easily

amother

Ivory

Tue, Mar 02 2021, 2:08 pm

I agree with the above poster that ceramic is hard on your joints and you need to think about your kids falling chas ve'shalom. Wood looks beautiful when it's new, but it scratches so easily and then it doesn't look nice. Kids are kids, so you have to assume it's going to get scratched. I know you mentioned you can fix it, but in reality, how often do you think you'll end up doing that? My hallway has wood that's scratched and it looks awful. We don't want to resand it because (a) is expense, (b) it discolors the molding which means I'll have to repaint it, and (c) the chemicals they use smell awful and I don't want my family living with that. I have vinyl in my other rooms. It looks like wood. Most people, even professionals, think it's wood. It's very easy to maintain and I'm very happy with it. Good luck. May you have much nachas with whatever you choose.

mha3484

Tue, Mar 02 2021, 2:23 pm

I have ceramic tile in my kitchen. Its extremely hard on my joints and it is super painful if you slip and fall which has happened to me a few times and my kids learning to walk a lot more. I would not want tile for my whole house.

We have hardwood in the living and dining room that also doubles as the playroom and it has taken a beating. I am leaving it be because I want to finish my basement into a playroom and I hope once they mostly play down there I can refinish the floors and it will stay a lot nicer. If I did not have that option and that room stayed super high traffic forever I would do vinyl that looks like wood.

amother

Powderblue

Tue, Mar 02 2021, 2:44 pm

I'm thinking about redoing our floors as well. I'm going for vinyl as aside from the price being lower, it's so much easier to maintain. A good quality vinyl looks like wood, but doesn't have the hassle of needing constant care. I'm too scared of tile floors as my kids are the adventurous type and have landed in the emergency room too many times as it is. Also all the houses I've seen, their tiles have cracked over time and it doesn't look great and it's much too hard to change.
So in 10 years, if the vinyl needs replacing, I can replace it without too much difficulty.

Amarante

Tue, Mar 02 2021, 3:03 pm

For most people, engineered wood and solid hardwood are the same. In your lifetime, you are unlikely to refinish a floor twice - let alone more than twice. In some circumstances, depending on climate, engineered hardwood will perform better. Not all engineered hardwood is the same quality - there are differences in the wear layer (which affects how many times it can be finished) as well as the finish - higher quality floors have more durable finishes. And keep in mind that solid hardwood can be factory finished or finished on site.

Not all tile is created equally either. Ceramic tile is less durable than porcelain tile because the color doesn't go all the way through and it is more prone to chipping and cracking than porcelain tile. And as others have pointed out, even though tile is durable, it has disadvantages - it is cold, hard on feet and acoustically can be echoey.

Vinyl flooring is less expensive but probably least desirable especially if you own a home and want to resell at some point. Hardwood floors are a selling point - vinyl floors not so much.

Last edited by Amarante on Mon, Jun 07 2021, 9:05 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Slateblue

Tue, Mar 02 2021, 3:07 pm

I'd get linoleum for many of the reasons posted here. The advantage over vinyl is that it's a little softer, less chemicals, better for the environment, and naturally antibacterial.

I hate the idea of falling on a hard unforgiving floor, and my kids fall plenty!

Fabulous

Mon, Jun 07 2021, 7:13 pm

I’m of the same question. My problem is that the whole main floor is basically leading into each room and there’s no delineation. So no foyer or kitchen or dining room or hallway separation. I think it looks odd to put hardwood in foyer and kitchen, tile is actually probably more expensive to replace throughout and now you are all saying that it might not be timeless and hard on joints. I’m so confused

flowergirl8

Mon, Jun 07 2021, 8:52 pm

Ceramic tile is terrible. It has only a top layer of the pattern and underneath is usually a solid color. Tile stores never recommend ceramic in any high traffic areas. Porcelain is what you are looking for if you tile a living area

simba

Mon, Jun 07 2021, 8:57 pm

imagirl wrote:

So interesting.. never heard about this.

Amarante

Mon, Jun 07 2021, 8:58 pm

I don’t understand how people are abusing wood floors.

Wood floors were used for many years in homes and the finishes were not as durable as they are now. They had to be waxed at least once a year.

I grew up with wood floors and they were fine. In the formal living room, there were beautiful area rugs; in the family room there was an area rug that was durable and covered a multitude of sins as my mother would joke and in the bedrooms there were area rugs that were cozy and fit the style of the individual rooms.

Hardwood floors are classic and are the most sought after flooring for most people. Ceramic tile is very cold and hard.

Last edited by Amarante on Mon, Jun 07 2021, 10:42 pm; edited 1 time in total

simba

Mon, Jun 07 2021, 8:59 pm

Amarante wrote:

For most people, engineered wood and solid hardwood are the same. In your lifetime, you are unlikely to refinish a floor twice - let alone more than twice. In some circumstances, depending on climate, engineered hardwood will perform better. Not all engineered hardwood is the same quality - there are differences in the wear layer (which affects how many times it can be finished) as well as the finish - higher quality floors have more durable finishes. And keep in mind that solid hardwood can be factory finished or finished on site.

Not all time is created equally either. Ceramic tile is less durable than porcelain tile because the color doesn't go all the way through and it is more prone to chipping and cracking than porcelain tile. And as others have pointed out, even though tile is durable, it has disadvantages - it is cold, hard on feet and acoustically can be echoey.

Vinyl flooring is less expensive but probably least desirable especially if you own a home and want to resell at some point. Hardwood floors are a selling point - vinyl floors not so much.

You seem knowledgeable. Would you put engineered wood in a kitchen?

Amarante

Mon, Jun 07 2021, 8:59 pm

simba wrote:

So interesting.. never heard about this.

Ceramic tile is fired at a lower temperature which is why it chips and because the color doesn’t go through all the way, it looks shabby. Ceramic tile is good for walls where it doesn’t take the wear of floors. If you want tile, then it should be porcelain for durability.

Amarante

Mon, Jun 07 2021, 9:04 pm

simba wrote:

You seem knowledgeable. Would you put engineered wood in a kitchen?

I did when I remodeled. LOL

It should be a good quality engineered wood of course. I actually had some water that leaked from a package overnight and when I wiped it up the finish was perfect. Of course when you buy the wood, get some extra in case you need to make a repair.

Mine were a moderately good brand with a decent wear layer and an excellent factory finish. Factory finished floors have a finish than is more durable than a site finished floor. And of course an engineered wood floor can be refinished just like any floor.

Also some styles are more forgiving than others. I deliberately went with a lighter finish because I wanted a lighter look but also because it doesn’t show scratches as much as a darker stain. Also it doesn’t show dust which was heaven sent during the pandemic when it didn’t get cleaned as much. Smile

Laminate floors are actually not good in a kitchen because they don’t handle moisture well.

Fabulous

Mon, Jun 07 2021, 10:18 pm

I have no idea what’s the difference between porcelain and ceramic tiles 🙈. Please educate me. I just know that it currently has a tile that I hate and I love hardwood but don’t love it in a foyer or kitchen and since there’s no separations between the rooms, I feel like I don’t really have a choice but to replace with a different type of tile that I do like, because at least there will be continuity